Barack Obama chooses artist Kehinde Wiley to produce official presidential portrait

Barack Obama has chosen an artist known for blending Renaissance motifs with hip-hop culture to paint his official portrait.

Kehinde Wiley has been commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute to produce the work for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

Former first lady ​Michelle Obama selected Baltimore artist Amy Sherald, known for challenging stereotypes through life-sized paintings of African-Americans, for her accompanying portrait.

They are the first black artists commissioned to produce the artworks which are traditionally produced at the end of each president's tenure.

Mr Wiley, known for his vibrant portrayals of young African-Americans set against colourful Baroque backdrops, is also likely to break from the stylistic convention set by previous presidential portraits.

He has previously depicted subjects including rappers, the Notorious BIG, LL Cool J, and Ice T, in works that reference iconic portraits of powerful western figures by the Old Masters.

Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, said she was "absolutely delighted that Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald have agreed to create the official portraits of our former President and First Lady".

She added: “Both have achieved enormous success as artists, but even more, they make art that reflects the power and potential of portraiture in the 21st century.”

The paintings will be unveiled in early 2018 and will enter the gallery's permanent exhibition, which includes the only complete collection of presidential portraits in the US outside of the White House.

A second pair of the works will hang in the White House, in keeping with a tradition that began with Gilbert Stuart's portrayal of George Washington in 1796.

The Smithsonian began commissioning the presidential portraits in the 1990s with George H.W. Bush.

In 2008, Mr Wiley said he would "love" to produce Mr Obama's official portrait.

"I’ve done several studies in the past, I’ve sort of worked out different strategies about how that would be, but it’s a very curious possibility," he told the BBC at the time.

He added: “The reality of Barack Obama being the president of the United States—quite possibly the most powerful nation in the world—means that the image of power is completely new for an entire generation of not only black American kids, but every population group in this nation.”

Ms Sherald, the lesser known of the two artists, won the National Portrait Gallery's 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.

Her work, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), was selected for the prize out of 2,500 entries.