Also love love love Danielle McKinney's portraits. They speak to me in a really deep way, the energy in them is so palpable. My dream is to afford one of them lol.
Your review of Sherald's show made me want to see it. I have complicated feelings about her work. Revisiting her portrait of Breonna Taylor now in the midst of the controversy around Thomas J. Prices's sculpture of a full figured fictional Black woman that is seen as inadequate by a lot of Black people, makes me wonder how that portrait of Taylor would have been received if she was drawn in a more naturalistic state. The portrait is very glam and fits contemporary expectations of beauty and was meant to celebrate her life.
Edited to add: I just looked at the exhibition images! Interesting that part of the positive reception for her works is the fact that the people in them are very stylish and fall more safely into looking 'respectable.' much to unpack here!
Thanks so much for reading, Swabreen, and for your thoughtful comments! I really enjoyed your piece on the Price sculpture and your thoughts on representation, respectability, and the reception to it. And also your connection to how Sherald frames her subjects, i.e., who gets to be 'seen,' and whether that is an accurate representation of who they are. Agree, so much to unpack!
Also love love love Danielle McKinney's portraits. They speak to me in a really deep way, the energy in them is so palpable. My dream is to afford one of them lol.
Agree -- her use of light and color to convey quiet moments is really beautiful!
Thank you for citing me in this piece!
Your review of Sherald's show made me want to see it. I have complicated feelings about her work. Revisiting her portrait of Breonna Taylor now in the midst of the controversy around Thomas J. Prices's sculpture of a full figured fictional Black woman that is seen as inadequate by a lot of Black people, makes me wonder how that portrait of Taylor would have been received if she was drawn in a more naturalistic state. The portrait is very glam and fits contemporary expectations of beauty and was meant to celebrate her life.
Edited to add: I just looked at the exhibition images! Interesting that part of the positive reception for her works is the fact that the people in them are very stylish and fall more safely into looking 'respectable.' much to unpack here!
Thanks so much for reading, Swabreen, and for your thoughtful comments! I really enjoyed your piece on the Price sculpture and your thoughts on representation, respectability, and the reception to it. And also your connection to how Sherald frames her subjects, i.e., who gets to be 'seen,' and whether that is an accurate representation of who they are. Agree, so much to unpack!