The American artist Kehinde Wiley has designed a new version of the legendary MTV Moon Person Trophy, as the Rolling Stone highlights. The updated statuette was created as part of MTV’s 40th anniversary celebrations. Wiley’s Moon Person is adorned with flowers and green tendrils and “represents inclusiveness and diversity that are shaped by the historical, ecological and nature-related relevance of the botanicals,” as MTV told RS. The winners will receive the updated trophy at the MTV Video Music Awards 2021.
On the new Moon Person design, MTV added:
Each intertwined vine or leaf has a different historical meaning, such as the seeds of African slaves woven into the American tapestry. The sculpture complements Wiley’s upcoming series of portraits in which he seeks to create paintings in which his subjects lie on their sides while tendrils surround their bodies.
In 2018, Wiley unveiled his presidential portrait of Barack Obama. Obama chose Wiley to create the painting, which now hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Wiley’s paintings are world famous and include renderings from Notorious BIG, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Ice T, and more.
The 2021 MTV VMAs are scheduled for September 12th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The show takes place in front of a live audience.
