Amy Sherald: The World We Make

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I really believe there’s a transference of energy from a model to the painter to the brush to the canvas,” she explained. “There’s some people that I’ve photographed that didn’t feel like they were weighted enough or there wasn’t enough… not life, but maybe a weathered soul. He’s a young man who takes life seriously and I just felt moved to paint him. It’s an intuitive thing.” How does portraiture expand how we see and imagine other people and how we see and imagine ourselves? Vehicles become a literal metaphor here for forward momentum, for movement and potential movement'. In line with this sentiment, Sherald is interested in the idea articulated by artist Alice Neel that 'art is two things:

How does reframing historical moments through portraiture help to interrogate history, as well as reimagine present and future moments? that have become landmarks in the grand tradition of social portraiture–a tradition that for too long excluded You see why she got the job. Amy Sherald, 49, is best known outside the art world as Michelle Obama’s portraitist. That official picture, in which the former US First Lady looks proud but wary, remains in the Smithsonian in Washington DC. But here at Hauser & Wirth in London, you can instead see a new set of paintings that flaunt their creator’s formidable skill. Even in a city full of exhibitions – Frieze Week has flooded Mayfair with prestigious artistic wares – Sherald’s first solo show in Europe looks to be one of the very best. A new monograph for the artist’s Hauser & Wirth show seeks to connect tradition and contemporary sensibility in her work – via Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michelle Obama In this exhibition, Sherald plays with traditional American symbology through the portrayal of vehicles suchAmerican Realism American realism was a movement in art, literature and music which showed contemporary social realities and people’s everyday lives. of masculinity that underlie the work. As Sherald says, 'The tractor and motorbike paintings explore different As Sherald says, 'the works reflect a desire to record life as I see it and as I feel it. My eyes search for people who

painting, Sherald also seeks to honour the legacy of farming in a world where new technologies are favoured. Sherald considers exhibiting outside the U.S. to be her greatest achievement since the triumph of her Obama portrait, describing it as a lifelong dream. I got the impression, however, that her eyes are already set on the next prize. Choose a painting in the exhibition that you connect to; Who do you think this person is? What do you think they may be feeling? Does the work remind you of yourself or someone you know? Hauser & Wirth Publishers. Newly commissioned texts include an art historical analysis of Sherald's workthe rejection of queer rights to equal participation in public space, as Sherald replaces the white heterosexual Amy Sherald’s Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, 2018. Photograph: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

of themselves and the complexities of their interior lives, void of the constructs of race, gender, religion and Breonna Taylor Legacy Fellowship and the Breonna Taylor Legacy Scholarship for undergraduates, a gift made Northern Renaissance Portraiture Paintings that were created between the 15th and 17th Centuries, during the Renaissance period where artists painted complex details of their subject. Bo Bartlett (born 1955) is an American realist painter who portrays elements of everyday life in America. Her biggest adjustment has been managing her burgeoning celebrity status. “I‘ve learned to have a public persona,” Sherald says. “It’s not that it’s inauthentic. But I had to learn how to be in public.” She believes in generosity and access, themes braided into all aspects of her life and work. So, if an autograph needed to be signed, she signed it. An admirer wanted a hug? An embrace was given. But that took its toll, especially given that she is “not really an outgoing person, per se”. Floods of social demands, combined with a deluge of public events, proved exhausting. “I would get a migraine for two days because that kind of extroversion to an introvert is like physical exhaustion,” says Sherald.

Amy Sherald. The World We Make

of new and monumental works by Amy Sherald will be on display at the gallery in Monaco. Amy Sherald, one inspired by the bike culture that is local to Baltimore in Maryland, United States, where Sherald has lived, For now, questions of legacy and remembrance are important but the work remains the priority. It is what has kept her primed and ready for the abundance that has come her way. “I stayed focused on making the work. And the opportunity found me.” showing a young child at the top of a slide, both asks us to look positively at future generations whilst are and who have the kind of light that provides the present and the future with hope.' The painting 'Kingdom'