March 28, 2025
Whitney Museum Displays Amy Sherald’s ‘Four Ways Of Being’
The "Four Ways of Being" portraits invite museum visitors to explore the complex ways our histories shape our understanding.
As New York locals pass through Gansevoort Street, a billboard across from the Whitney Museum of American Art displays four portraits by artist Amy Sherald.
The newly commissioned work, titled “Four Ways of Being,” explores the “intersection of past, present, and future,” according to the Whitney Museum. “Each painting captures a distinct way of existing in the world.” Sherald’s work portrays four individuals from diverse backgrounds and generations as they coexist at a common point. Some of the paintings are new to the New York art scene. The four portraits invite viewers to “contemplate the fluidity of time and the complex ways our histories shape our understanding of ourselves,” the Whitney Museum captioned a clip of the billboard installation.
The Georgia-born painter is known for her depictions of the contemporary African American experience in the U.S. Her work offers a distinct use of color, composition, and figuration. An event at the Whitney Museum, called “Archiving Everyday Life: Amy Sherald and Representation in American Art,” highlights how the New York-based artist’s “intentional focus on everyday Black life speak to absences in the archive, situating her practice within a broader lineage of artists who have sought to redefine representation.”
Sherald is a pioneer in the art scene. In 2016, she made history as the first woman and African American to receive the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition grand prize from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C., per Hauser & Wirth. The year after, she was honored with the Anonymous Was A Woman award before she drew the attention of former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, who tapped her to paint her official portrait for the National Portrait Gallery in D.C. In 2019, she received the Smithsonian Ingenuity Award.
“Four Ways of Being” is on display now, throughout September. In April, the museum will open an exhibition showcasing Sherald’s “American Sublime” with a preview night and opening ceremony on April 2. A mini version of the Michelle Obama portrait will be featured in the upcoming exhibition.
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