BY TIARA BROWNIE | Amy Sherald is an American realist painter known for her portraits of Black Americans that challenge traditional notions of representation and explore themes of identity and belonging. On view at the Whitney Museum of American Art (Whitney) through August 10, Sherald’s solo exhibition, American Sublime, features nearly 50 portraits, delivering a distinct mood and message. By placing her subjects in everyday settings and using grayscales to show skin tones and bright colors, Sheralds goes beyond the American Realist style to show what it’s like to be a Black American.

“Amy’s contribution to the Whitney is to really say, ‘I am a person from Georgia and grew up wanting to be an artist and not really seeing examples of either artists or even subjects who looked like me, who had a lived experience that was similar to my own,’ ” says Rujeko Hockley, Arnhold Associate Curator at the Whitney. Hockley further observed, “Amy really thinks of herself and has talked about herself as an American realist and someone who’s in that lineage and tradition of artists like Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Guy Piedubois, and Robert Henry.”

Exiting the elevator on the fifth floor, one encounters an exhibition featuring a collection of Sherald’s portraits from 2007 to the present. Immediately present to the viewer is Sherald’s characteristic application of grayscale skin tones juxtaposed with vividly colored backgrounds–one of the artist’s most consistent and thoroughly considered formal decisions, serving as a medium through which the essence of culture and identity can be expressed.

Sherald’s grayscale, or grisaille, paintings draw attention away from skin tone and toward the inner lives and narratives of her subjects. This method enables viewers to relate to the characters more broadly by viewing them as unique people before taking into account their race.

Alongside paintings of everyday Black Americans, the exhibit includes a stunning portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama, created for the National Portrait Gallery in 2018. Titled Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, the portrait shows its subject in a geometric print dress with a sky-blue backdrop, lightly resting her chin on her hand. Sherald is recognized for her use of grayscale for skin tones, which she uses to investigate topics of representation and Black identity in her work.

The chance to share the same physical space with multiple works by Sherald drew Ana Restrepo to the Whitney, who traveled from Long Island  (on her birthday). “My favorite piece, I think, was the Michelle Obama portrait. To see that in person is nice. I also liked the Breonna Taylor one as well. It was very touching to see that,” said Restrepo.

One of the exhibition’s most captivating pieces, 2024’s Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obamaeinterprets the Statue of Liberty as a non-binary, trans-feminine figure, fundamentally altering this emblem of American liberty to propose that the principle of acceptance should be extended to all individuals, irrespective of their distinguishing characteristics.

The earliest work in the show, Hangman, shows a Black man’s side view, with three rough-looking bands with faint, ghostly figures inside them. Sherald uses the name Hangman to discuss the history of unfair treatment and violence against Black people in America.

Among the vibrant exhibit portraits Sherald’s art development and use of American iconography–including a tractor, a beach ball, a toy pony, and a teacup–are showcased to create relevant stories highlighting each subject’s peculiarities and distinct life experiences.

One work that stood out to me was 2020’s As American as Apple Pie. I was drawn to the portrait because of my love for Barbie and the color pink. But as my eyes looked past these surface elements, so too did my perception of the message being conveyed. More than aspirational Barbie accessories, the vehicle, white picket fence, and suburban street are all hallmarks of the American dream, seemingly realized by the couple at the center of the piece. The woman is stylishly dressed in pink, perhaps paying homage to Barbie, an American icon. At the same time, the man looks dapper in all-American denim and Chuck Taylors.

Sherald’s 2020 painting of the late Breonna Taylor has also garnered recognition. It was commissioned for the cover of Vanity Fair magazine and is part of the  Promise, Witness, Remembrance exhibition at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. The exhibition also includes new and rarely seen works, as well as Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), which won the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2016. 

“It’s such a beautiful tribute to all Black women, but especially women who have died from violence in our country. I love how Sherald painted the engagement ring on her finger because she was going to get engaged,” said exhibition viewer Valerie Fagan (who speculated that if Breanna Taylor were alive and here with us today, she would be touched by the painting).

Amy Sherald: American Sublime is on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art (99 Gansevoort Street) through August 10. The Whitney’s hours are 10:30am-6pm Sat., Sun., Mon., Wed., and Thurs.; Fri., 10:30am-10pm; closed Tuesdays. Admission: Adult, $30; Senior (65 and over), $24; Student (with valid Student ID), $24; Visitor with Disability, $18 (inludes complimentary admission for care partner); Ages 19-25, free with valid ID; 18 and under, free. Click here to purchase tickets.

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