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Sherald often draws on imagery—a beauty queen, a sailor returning from war, a farmer, a white picket fence—that symbolizes American identity and history. Simultaneously acknowledging and critical of the sustained resonance of such national myths and related ideas of freedom, beauty, and success, her work addresses the absence of Black people from these defining stories and invites reflection on their misrepresentations and omissions, both past and present. The title of this exhibition, American Sublime, hints at this complexity. It invokes Elizabeth Alexander’s 2005 poetry collection of the same title, which considers centuries of African American creativity, history, and culture. At the same time, it nods to Sherald’s interest in the philosophical concept of the sublime—or being overcome by emotion in the face of art or the natural world. As her paintings demonstrate, this same emotional groundswell can be summoned by the American people, in all their range and beauty.
