--- title: Vincent Desiderio Comments On Kanye West's "Famous" Video description: Artist Vincent Desiderio, who inspired Kanye West's "Famous" video, reveals what he really thinks of the musical artist. canonical: https://time.com/4384498/artist-vincent-desiderio-kanye-west-famous-video-sleep/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-27T21:28:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:33:49.382Z og:title: Here's What The Artist That Inspired Kanye's "Famous" Video Thinks Of Him og:description: Meet Vincent Desiderio og:url: https://time.com/4384498/artist-vincent-desiderio-kanye-west-famous-video-sleep/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc58115cf689ee3f6/6988999d428a9e233ccd3359/kanye-west-vincent-desiderio-famous-video-sleep.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 - Runway og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What The Artist That Inspired Kanye's "Famous" Video Thinks Of Him twitter:description: Meet Vincent Desiderio twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc58115cf689ee3f6/6988999d428a9e233ccd3359/kanye-west-vincent-desiderio-famous-video-sleep.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Artist Who Inspired Kanye West's 'Famous' Thinks the Video Is 'Extraordinary and Bold' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0be18b89-b3b8-4bbf-958b-5205ed3ea1db&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 27, 2016 9:28 PM UTC  Kanye West performs during Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 on February 11, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3) Kanye West performs during Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 on February 11, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3) Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 27, 2016 9:28 PM UTC Kanye West’s [controversial video for “Famous”](http://time.com/4382876/kanye-west-famous-video-somebody-sue-me/) has been making headlines for [its nude depiction of celebrities like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, Amber Rose, and Ray J tangled up in bed](http://time.com/4382802/kanye-west-releases-famous-video-with-nude-taylor-swift-and-donald-trump/) together, in a [bizarre but intriguing tableaux of his oft-dramatic relationships with other celebrities](http://time.com/4196396/kanye-west-wiz-khalifa-twitter-spree/). See the NSFW comparison [here](https://twitter.com/raymunoz94/status/746551311424851968?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw). However, West, the self-proclaimed “greatest artist of all time” pulled major visual inspiration from another artist — realist painter Vincent Desiderio, whose 2004 piece, “Sleep” debuted at New York’s Marlborough Gallery and was later completed in 2008. In an interview with [_Cosmopolitan_](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/music/a60590/vincent-desiderio-kanye-west-interview/), Desiderio — who is also a visiting critic at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts — reveals that he was not only supportive of the rapper’s artistic vision, but that he was happy with the end result. “It’s an extraordinary and bold and different move for Kanye West,” he said. “And what I would say is that it is the clearest indication of his overall intentions as a person utilizing the media and working within it. I was absolutely floored and incredibly flattered and incredibly happy to see the video, which I think is really beautiful.” Desiderio also disclosed that he found a kindred creative spirit with West, whom he respects as an artist in his own right. “I think he and I are on the same page and he knows that, I know that. We both acknowledge that we are one brain, two bodies. He’s quite a remarkable man, not withstanding all the nonsense that accompanies a man strapped to a rocket, who sometimes is either misquoted or is compelled into a position that can frustrate someone. Think of how Andy Warhol was intentionally misconstrued because he put himself out there to be misconstrued. Think about how his whole life was a performance piece and then you understand why Kanye at one point said, ‘I’m Andy Warhol.’ The way we’re thinking about Kanye West and the way he’s portrayed, there’s an orchestration to it, but social media is so large right now that it spins wildly out of control. Fundamentally, he’s an artist and I have total respect for him.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4384498/artist-vincent-desiderio-kanye-west-famous-video-sleep/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4384498/artist-vincent-desiderio-kanye-west-famous-video-sleep/"},"headline":"The Artist Who Inspired Kanye West's 'Famous' Thinks the Video Is 'Extraordinary and Bold'","datePublished":"2016-06-27T21:28:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:33:49.382Z","description":"Meet Vincent Desiderio","url":"https://time.com/4384498/artist-vincent-desiderio-kanye-west-famous-video-sleep/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Music","Kanye West"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc58115cf689ee3f6/6988999d428a9e233ccd3359/kanye-west-vincent-desiderio-famous-video-sleep.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc58115cf689ee3f6/6988999d428a9e233ccd3359/kanye-west-vincent-desiderio-famous-video-sleep.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 - Runway","caption":"Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 - Runway","creditText":"Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4384498/artist-vincent-desiderio-kanye-west-famous-video-sleep/","name":"The Artist Who Inspired Kanye West's 'Famous' Thinks the Video Is 'Extraordinary and Bold'"}}]}] ```