Amy Sherald is a portraitist recognized for her attention to detail, which provides a balanced perspective on Black cultural history and the image of the Black body. She is most known for employing grayscale to paint skin tones in order to challenge the notion of color as race.
Amy
Sherald
A Clear Unspoken Granted Magic, 2017.
Sherald’s subjects are frequently unsmiling Black women and men ranging invariably in age. While their attire is typically colorful and has intriguing and enticing patterns, the background of the subjects is plain and colorless. In an effort to deemphasize race, their faces are also painted gray. She approaches individuals who strike her as fascinating subjects and photographs them in natural sunlight, and then selects their outfits before painting.
They Call Me Redbone but I’d Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake, 2009.
Born in Columbus, Georgia in 1973, Sherald knew that art was her passion. She started drawing from a young age in grade school, already familiar with racial structures in America being one of the few Black children in her private school.
Although Sherald started off on a premed track during her undergraduate years at Clark Atlanta, she soon switched to art to continue the passion that she developed years ago. She worked as an apprentice with Spelman College artist-historian Dr. Arturo Lindsay during her studies. In 1997, she took part in Spelman College's International Artist-in-Residence program in Portobelo, Panama. Two years later, she assisted in the organization and installation of international exhibitions throughout Central and South America. Sherald moved to Baltimore soon after and earned her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she studied under Abstract Expressionist Grace Hartigan.
The Make Believer (Monet's Garden), 2016.
Sherald and renowned artist Kehinde Wiley, who painted President Barack Obama's official picture for the National Portrait Gallery, are the only African American artists to have accomplished presidential portraits for the NGA.
Amy Sherald is the first African American woman to create a presidential portrait for the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery. She is widely recognized for painting former First Lady Michelle Obama's official portrait.
First Lady Michelle Obama, 2018.