Introduction

Rujeko Hockley: Hi, my name is Rujeko Hockley and I'm the Arnhold Associate Curator here at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In the audio guide, you'll hear from the artist herself, as well as a range of other individuals connected to the paintings and to Amy's practice in general.

Amy Sherald: Hi. My name is Amy Sherald, welcome to my show at the Whitney Museum, American Sublime.

Narrator: As you look around this opening gallery, you may notice something that the paintings share. Sherald has painted all of the figures’ skin tones using “grisaille”—or shades of gray. 

Amy Sherald: And I did not want the conversation about the work solely to be about race and identity. Even though it can be employed that way. I wanted it to also have a universal leg to stand on as well for it to fit into the larger canon of work that has been made by an American realist.