Amy Sherald: A Wonderful Dream
June 11 – August 27, 2016
Saint Women, 2015.
About:
Following her much lauded inclusion in our 2015 summer group show, Look At Me Now!, moniquemeloche is pleased to present the first solo exhibition by our newest gallery artist, Amy Sherald. In A Wonderful Dream, Sherald employs race to explore the evolution of one’s identity as a reaction to external directives. Born in Georgia in 1973 and now based in Baltimore, she credits her early years negotiating as a minority in a mostly white community as a major influence on her practice. Inspired by artists such as Bo Bartlett, Barkley Hendricks, and Kerry James Marshall, she paints dynamic portraits, designed to divulge an erudite understanding of the psychological consequences of stereotyping and racism.
Girl in Purple Dress, 2016.
Untitled (girl with varsity jacket), 2015.
Each portrait depicts a friend or acquaintance of the artist, suspended in vivid fashions before a non-descript background, which Sherald describes as “the amorphous personal space of my own existence within the context of black identity and my search for ways to clarify and ground it.” To add to the otherworldliness, skin tone is rendered only in shades of gray, made by mixing Naples yellow and black oil paint. Ever critical of African American cultural history and the representation of black bodies, the series is Sherald’s satirical manifestation of identities shaped by political, social, economic, and cultural influences.
Puppet Master, 2008.
A fully illustrated digital catalogue will accompany the exhibition, featuring an essay by Chicago artist, Columbia College Professor and Outwin 2016 Juror, Dawoud Bey.
On July 9th, the gallery will host a special audio podcast event for Sherald in conversation with Miami-based curator and Fresh Talk podcaster Cathy Byrd. Recording live with the gallery audience, Cathy will speak with Amy about what motivates her work. Launched in 2011, Fresh Art International is the globally aware, inspiring, and informative digital platform for Fresh Talk art radio. (text and courtesy: Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago).