Amy Sherald’s art has a softness to it, the portraits although clear and definable are never harsh in their lines, while the bright colours provide a sense of intimacy, aura, and more than a touch of the cool.
In essence it makes one feel calm to look at Sherald’s artwork, but the meaning, the presence of the model isn’t lost, their eyes locking onto you directly and in doing so conveying their thoughts. The models’ clothes in extension are a part of themselves, and it feels as though I can hear the words of my mum when growing up; ‘how you dress is a statement to the world of who you are,’ and it feels that’s exactly the case with Sherald’s models, and a deliberate one at that, with the artist often selecting the models’ clothing herself. What you get from this is a statement of stylishness, of being bold, and more than just a suggestiveness to be proud of who you are.
“The Boy With No Past” 2014, Oil on Canvas. Amy Sherald.
Represented by Hauser & Wirth
In Sherald’s portraits you feel as if you’ve been lucky enough to glimpse just a part of the models’ personality, which the artist does delicately, it’s never thrown at you, but it’s there to be picked up on, and yet you are still left to wonder about them. Their image is painted not merely for aesthetics (though they are beautiful) but to set them in history so that you may wonder what the models did, saw and experienced in their lives.
Race and identity have also had an important impact on Sherald’s art, the models for her portraits being black men and women, chosen from all walks of life and spotted by the artist because there was something about them that caught her eye, and you, as the viewer are drawn in to see just that.
Part of the reason Sherald’s models are all black is because she was struck by the imbalance in art history of non-white representation, especially in the West, and also importantly because the artist wants people to discuss black lives. Reflecting both the lived experiences of the average viewer and to look at what race has come to mean. This meaning has been carried across into the gray-scale Sherald paints the skin tones of her models with, so as to have the viewer see the person and to not question their identity solely on the colour of their skin. Her work is for you to see the individual.
Sherald’s painting technique strikes you as being carefully balanced between 2D and 3D portraiture, a difficult skill to master, but Sherald makes it look natural with this carrying forward into all of her artwork – each piece humming with life.
“Saint Woman” 2015, Oil on Canvas. Amy Sherald.
Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth
