Following her recent show in London, Amy Sherald is currently showcasing her first solo exhibition in Europe at Hauser & Wirth Monaco. The World We Make presents a suite of large-scale paintings, each radiating with a sky blue background that emits a message of hope.
Sherald, 49, is one of the most revered American artists working today. Although she is well-known for her presidential portrait of former First Lady, Michelle Obama, Sherald most notably focuses her efforts on everyday Black subjects which she recreates in an overly saturated style that confronts the history of portraiture by inserting Black men, women, families and artists in recognizable and everyday situations.
The title of the show itself is a form of healing for the artist, who understands that “as we walk beyond what we have been living through, we have a world to remake,” according to Sherald. An example of this is her painting, For love, and for country (2022), which references Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic photograph, V-J Day in Times Square (1945), which prominently shows a US Navy sailor kissing a woman in New York City as Imperial Japan surrendered in the Second World War. “The works reflect a desire to record life as I see it and as I feel it. My eyes search for people who are and who have the kind of light that provides the present and the future with hope,” said Sherald in a statement.
The exhibition is accompanied by a new catalog published by the gallery, which includes an analysis of Sherald’s work by Jenni Sorkin, along with an essay by Kevin Quashie and a conversation between Sherald and author Ta-Nehisi Coates. The World We Make is on view at Hauser & Wirth Monaco until April 15.
For more on art, a rare chandelier by Alberto Giacometti is expected to fetch $3m USD at auction.
Hauser & Wirth
1 Pl. du Casino
98000 Monaco
