Photo By Gail

According to artist Amy Sherald (b. 1973), she paints “Black people doing stuff.” Her committment to uplifting the everyday experiences of Black communities  can be seen in Deliverance (2022), in which she paints Baltimore-based figures on dirt bikes in the manner of lofty equestrian portraits. Sherald appropriates the style of portraiture  historically reserved for elite white sitters to glorify the bike culture of her chosen home. Caught in mid-air, her subjects lean back as if on a rearing horse, defying the laws of physics.

Photographed in the Brooklyn Museum as Part of the Exhibit Giants: Art From The Dean Collection.