Platinum x Kehinde Wiley

The platinum card as interpreted by Kehinde Wiley is stylized with ornamental flourishes reminiscent of those used in Wiley’s richly patterned monumental pieces. 

Art, and art created by Black artists in particular, has had quite a year (for the last few years now, as discussed in this 2019 Bloomberg article). And American Express is joining in the celebration of The Culture by introducing specially designed cards—reimagined by world renowned artists Kehinde Wiley and Julie Mehretu—and making them available to American Express Platinum Card members-cum-collectors, beginning January 20, 2022.

Famous well before he created President Obama’s presidential portrait, Kehinde Wiley is known for creating portraiture depicting what it means to be young, Black, and alive today. His portraits are groundbreaking and distinct because, while they are rooted in traditional portraiture, evoking elements of Rococo, Baroque, Renaissance and Dutch stylistic traditions, Wiley’s work features Black protagonists—where he literally inserts “Black faces into historical white spaces“.  I’ve been a fan of Kehinde’s since 2007, after an art loving colleague implored me to look into his works after seeing them at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art. Thanks for putting me on, David Beaning!

Platinum x Julie Mehretu

“I pull from all of this material, project it, trace it, break it up, recontextualize it, layer one on the other, and envelop it into the DNA of the painting.” – Julie Mehretu

Known for her large scale geometric abstractions—often depicting our contemporary condition, including our tumultuous socio-political climate, as well as politics, literature, and music—Julie Mehretu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and her many accolades include being selected as a MacArthur Fellow and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Mehretu’s work is highly architectural and are evocative of “ideas of universe or system, of mass movement and the passage of time“.

American Express unveiled the designs during Art Basel on December 1st. The launch date of January 20th is well timed as it is just 5 days after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and 12 days before the start of Black history month. We saw what you did there, Amex, and we appreciate it!

And, the best part of this collaboration, in my view, is that American Express will also provide a $1 million sponsorship to The Studio Museum in Harlem to support emerging artists of African descent—apropos as both Kehinde Wiley and Julie Mehretu are alumni of The Studio Museum in Harlem’s Artists-in-Residence program. (Kehinde Wiley is paying it forward, having established Black Rock, a luxurious artist’s residency located in Dakar, Senegal, in 2019. Read more about Black Rock here.)

In 2020, American Express committed $1 billion to promote  racial, ethnic and gender equity for colleagues, customers and communities, and has worked with emerging artists to create specially designed signage intended to make everyone feel welcome.

Platinum Classic

The minimalists among us might prefer to keep it simple with the Platinum Classic, featuring an unadorned centurion. And that’s alright!

You might think that these cards will be part of a limited edition series, since—as with art and most precious things—basic economics applies and value is diminished with an increase in supply, however, these cards are not limited so if you’re uncertain about whether you’d like one now, you can always log on to your online Amex account or call the number on the back of your card to request one later.

As someone who loves collecting art and objets d’art, I can’t wait to get my hands on one or both renditions of the platinum card—I’m loving the idea of Kehinde Wiley for my physical Platinum Card and Julie Mehretu for my mobile wallet, assuming that’s an option.

Learn more about the artists and review FAQs about the collaboration here. And do let us know which Art x Platinum rendition speaks to you and which artist you’d like to see American Express collaborate with next!

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