Handsome 2019

Editor: This is "Handsome" painted by Amy Sherald in 2019. I'm struck by the directness of the gaze, and how the grey skin tone pops against that simple polka dot shirt. How do you read the symbolism here? Curator: I see the grey skin as a powerful choice, divorcing the figure from strict realism, pushing beyond immediate racial categorizations. This grey operates as a potent symbol, a void filled with possibilities, an invitation to consider the sitter's identity beyond surface assumptions. Notice how this artistic choice affects your reading of the "handsome" quality implied by the title. Does it become more about character and less about conventional good looks? Editor: That’s an interesting point. I hadn't considered how the skin tone challenges conventional attractiveness. It makes the gaze even more intense, somehow. Curator: Precisely! That gaze, combined with the somewhat generic polka dot shirt, points to something very specific. Think about cultural codes around clothing. What might polka dots signify, considering the history of their adoption in various subcultures and fashion movements? Editor: Well, polka dots can be playful, but on this button-down shirt it seems… deliberate. Almost like a uniform? Maybe an everyman? Curator: The polka dot, repeated endlessly, becomes a field, an almost abstracted background for this figure to emerge from, much like the greyscale grounds him but then lets his character burst through. Consider, too, the whiteness of his pants…how that connects to historical ideas of purity, or starting anew? What does Sherald achieve through these combinations? Editor: So it’s about disrupting and recontextualizing familiar symbols. The figure becomes less defined by color and more by presence, challenging our assumptions about identity and attractiveness. That's really insightful. Curator: Exactly. Through visual cues like the grey skin, polka dot shirt, and the symbolic 'clean slate' offered by the color of his pants, Sherald prompts us to look deeper, to find beauty and meaning beyond the surface.