Monday, January 20, 2025

Amy Sherald on MLK, Jr. Day 2025

There was a march downtown this morning celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr., and a concert afterwards at the Yerba Buena Gardens...
...where the gentleman above was singing quite beautifully at about 2PM.
It seemed a good occasion to revisit the Amy Sherald painting exhibition at SFMOMA.
Sherald is less of a realist painter than a stager of scenes.
She casts models, puts them in clothing that she chooses, and occasionally recreates famous photos with black people in place of white people, often on a massive scale.
Her Mona Lisa is the famous portrait of Michelle Obama...
...who managed to do the right thing today when she ignored the grotesque inauguration in Washington, D.C.
Sitting on a bench in Michelle's portrait alcove was a gentleman who looked as if he had stepped out of one of Sherald's paintings.
Happy birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr.

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