Mother and Child 2016

Amy Sherald painted this Mother and Child, and it's fascinating how she approaches colour. It's like the painting is whispering a secret about the way we see race, a bit cheeky if you ask me. Sherald has a real knack for flattening out skin tones into grayscale, she does this in a way that makes you focus on the forms, the shapes, and the gestures. Her figures exist in these beautifully rendered clothes, like the mother's crisp white tee and those striking cobalt blue pants, set against this warm, peachy background. It almost feels like a stage set. Look at the baby's little hand reaching out, it’s a detail that brings the whole scene to life. Sherald's work reminds me of the compositions of someone like Alice Neel, with its directness, and the way they manage to capture a psychological truth. It's a conversation, right? With art, there are no rules.