Sherald, Amy
1973-present · Contribution: 2000s-present
Portrait painting; monumental portraits of everyday Black Americans rendered with skin tones in grisaille (grayscale) against flat, vibrant color fields, shifting focus from racial categorization to individual presence
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Painted First Lady Michelle Obama's official National Portrait Gallery portrait (unveiled 2018) — she and Kehinde Wiley were the first Black artists commissioned for official presidential/First Lady portraits by the NPG. First woman and first African American to win the NPG's Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition (2016).
Life & background
African-American painter born Aug 30, 1973 in Columbus, GA. BA in painting, Clark Atlanta University (1997); MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art. Based in the New York area.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica; Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
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