Breonna Taylor 2020

Amy Sherald’s ‘Breonna Taylor’ is a painting about presence, made with oil on canvas. Sherald’s paintings often use a grayscale palette for the skin tones, and then punch it up with bright, almost Matisse-like colors for the clothes and background, which is kind of like she’s turning up the volume on certain parts of the composition. There's something really striking about that flat turquoise background. It pushes Breonna forward, but also creates this feeling of being suspended in a space that’s not quite real. Look at the way the fabric of her dress drapes and folds. You can almost feel the weight and texture of it, even though it’s rendered with such smooth, controlled brushwork. And then there’s her gaze. It’s direct, confident, but also a little bit vulnerable, inviting you in but also holding you at a distance. Seeing this, I’m reminded a little of Barkley L. Hendricks, the way he used color and composition to elevate his subjects and give them this iconic, almost regal quality. Sherald really captures the spirit and complexity of her sitter, making her both an individual and an emblem of our times.