Edited by Eddie Silva. Foreword by Lisa Melandri. Text by Erin Christovale.
This is the first monograph on Baltimore artist Amy Sherald (born 1973), and coincides with her first solo museum show at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Sherald, best known for her stunning and iconic portrait of Michelle Obama, makes paintings of African Americans she encounters on the street, in the grocery store or on the bus. “When I choose my models,” the artist has said, “it’s something that only I can see in that person, in their face and their eyes, that’s so captivating about them.” Through these vibrant, sometimes fantastical portraits, Sherald captures the essence of her particular subjects while engaging in broader dialogues about the black experience, the performance of race and the historic lack of nonwhite representation in the Western art canon.
Set against a monochrome background and divorced of context, time and place, the life-sized, frontal figures are dressed in costumes and carry objects that indicate their daily activities or imagined or perceived selves. Although each subject—painted with sober realism—bears clear resemblance to the sitter, Sherald adds the props and clothing, conjuring the figure’s possible alternate self, and hinting at the complexity and performance of identity and race.
"Planes, rockets, and the spaces in between" (2018) is reproduced from 'Amy Sherald.'
Amy Sherald opens next week at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and we're prepping with an image from this recent exhibition catalog from CAM ST. Louis. Weighing in at just 36 pages, this is one of the most concise books on our list this season, and yet the 17 color images are so vibrant that we can't complain. Also, this so happens to be the only book out there on this rising American artist who burst into the popular consciousness with her now-iconic 2018 official portrait of Michelle Obama. Featured image is "A clear unspoken granted magic" (2017). continue to blog
FORMAT: Pbk, 8 x 10 in. / 36 pgs / 17 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $25.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $34.95 GBP £22.00 ISBN: 9780988997097 PUBLISHER: Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis AVAILABLE: 1/22/2019 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Edited by Eddie Silva. Foreword by Lisa Melandri. Text by Erin Christovale.
This is the first monograph on Baltimore artist Amy Sherald (born 1973), and coincides with her first solo museum show at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Sherald, best known for her stunning and iconic portrait of Michelle Obama, makes paintings of African Americans she encounters on the street, in the grocery store or on the bus. “When I choose my models,” the artist has said, “it’s something that only I can see in that person, in their face and their eyes, that’s so captivating about them.” Through these vibrant, sometimes fantastical portraits, Sherald captures the essence of her particular subjects while engaging in broader dialogues about the black experience, the performance of race and the historic lack of nonwhite representation in the Western art canon.
Set against a monochrome background and divorced of context, time and place, the life-sized, frontal figures are dressed in costumes and carry objects that indicate their daily activities or imagined or perceived selves. Although each subject—painted with sober realism—bears clear resemblance to the sitter, Sherald adds the props and clothing, conjuring the figure’s possible alternate self, and hinting at the complexity and performance of identity and race.
