American Sublime April 27, 2025

 Our visit to the Whitney’s Amy Sherald’s exhibition was uplifting. Most of us were introduced to her when she was chosen to paint the portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama but there is so much more to discover. “Amy Sherald is a storyteller. She creates precisely crafted narratives of American life, selecting, styling, and photographing her sitters as the foundation for her nuanced paintings. Thus, while Sherald (b. 1973; Columbus, Georgia) bases her works on specific people, they are more than traditional portraits. They center everyday Black Americans, compelling in their individuality and extraordinary in their ordinariness, inviting viewers to step into Sherald’s imagined worlds. In this exhibition, paintings of such ordinary Americans join her iconic portraits of First Lady Michelle Obama and, heartbreakingly, Breonna Taylor, to produce a resonant ode to the multiplicity and complexity of American identity.” There is also a wonderful video which I encourage you to watch about her life and technique. This wonderful exhibit is on thru August 10. While at the Whitney I highly recommend Christine Sum Kim’s ‘All Day All Night’ . She is a deaf artist with a brilliant wit. I found myself laughing out loud at her insightful work.