Spoiler Alerts and American Sublime
Celebrating American excellence without criticizing its failings is a failure in itself. But how to offer constructive criticism that lands rather than bounces?
Spoiler alert: today’s essay will not be particularly spicy or critical. Sorry, haters! You can move on with your day. Also, today’s epistle will be short-ish! But I will include a few photos from the preview of Amy Sherald: American Sublime at The Whitney, which is a gorgeous and poetic paean to ordinary Americans acting with grace and dignity, something we all clearly need more of.
For the next two weeks I will be in what my team describes as “editing jail,” scrambling to address a million tiny details, edits, and decisions that will culminate in BmoreArt’s NINETEENTH print journal, due out in mid-May. Did you hear that?????? ISSUE 19???? Cue: David Byrne, “How did I get here?”
Nineteen issues in ten years? I have to admit - this whole thing still seems like an unbelievable surprise to me. In a world where legacy publications shrink and struggle to exist, in a market that honestly makes no sense, BmoreArt has managed not only to continue to exist but to grow into an organization that raises awareness and builds community in a meaningful way. IN BALTIMORE. So how about that??????
I am typically not great at celebrating success and tend to focus more on solving problems, but for just one moment I’d like to lean into the excitement of collective creation with you - and then, to acknowledge all the hard work, time, expertise, and the PEOPLE I get to work with. See? I told you - this one is sweet, later with a touch of medium spice.
The other thing we are working on is planning our release party, which - at this point, you’d think this process would be easy, but it’s not! We do not sell tickets to our release parties, they are private events designed to celebrate all the artists, contributors, and sponsors and also - our subscribing members at the $100 level (or above) receive 2 tickets to 2 really nice parties a year in addition to beautiful magazines.
SPICY SALES PITCH: Are you seriously still NOT a subscribing member? What are you waiting for??? What do I have to do??? I’m working my ass off and all you have to do is click a button that says: JOIN and spend the equivalent of one nice museum cafe lunch (including a glass of champagne, but still).
Do you NOT like nice things??? Do you not want nice things for Baltimore?? This is basic math, people. The money is dropping off in this country, so BmoreArt needs you to join us as a member before May 1 to be on the list of Issue 19. Be a part of the SOLUTION rather than simply bitching about all the problems Baltimore has. THANK YOU.
Moving on…
Last week I snuck out of editing jail! I went to New York for two days to attend the opening reception for Amy Sherald: American Sublime at The Whitney Museum.
I have so many thoughts about this show my brain is exploding, and again - no time to write about it, but - for the Baltimore audience that knows and loves Amy, it was SO COOL to see so many of her old, familiar paintings all together again. It felt like a reunion of old friends, remembering certain paintings from her days at the Subbasement Studios, remembering others from her Creative Alliance and Motor House studios, and seeing them all together in the quintessential home of American figuration? Perfect.
Art nerd that I am, it was really interesting to check out the names of the owners of each at the bottom of each wall title, seeing a number of Baltimore-based patrons and collectors who were visionary enough to purchase these works way back when. (My husband is still mad that we didn’t buy an Amy Sherald painting in the early 2000s, but I was a grad student myself then and I did not have an extra 7 grand to spend on art.) However, some of you Baltimore people were able to see the big picture, and you were able to prioritize your love for the art and artist over all else. Just look at the success you have manifested!!!
So I want to personally thank you - Sheryll Cashin, Steven Scott, Frances and Burton Reifler, Ann Stone, and others - for making a strategic investment when it REALLY COUNTED. I want to encourage our museums to be less risk-averse in the future, to invest in artists on the rise who show global promise, to keep the talent and the dollars in Baltimore, rather than buying from an artist after they are represented by a New York gallery. Amen.
From a content standpoint, I have so many thoughts about this incredible show, many of them stemming from the messed up place America finds itself in after electing an elderly reality tv show felon with a special talent for destruction, grift, and chaos. Right now, America is manifesting so many horrors and injustices, new each day, that it feels like we are drowning, under a daily barrage of attacks. And we are, which is why we need art and artists to help to reset our reactionary fight-or-flight-addled brains into a place of clarity.
Even the title of the exhibit, American Sublime, is a genius move as are the poetic titles of each and every painting. This exhibit is a direct challenge to anyone attempting to erase, malign, or destroy the aspirational aspects of America that the majority of us hold dear: the rule of law, justice, equal opportunity, the pursuit of happiness, freedom from religion. It elegantly reminds us who we want to be, as a country and as individuals: it shows us our best selves in a generous, inclusive, and beautiful way and gently points out places for improvement.
When you look at art history, of course the great talents stand out, but it’s also about being in the right place with the right message at the right time. Context is everything, and the American context for Amy Sherald’s beautiful portraits of Black Americans has dramatically infused them with power.
In Barrack Obama’s America, these paintings were a pinnacle, a hard-earned victory lap. But in Trump 2.0’s America, they are confrontational; they simmer with urgency and exist boldly in the face of deliberate erasure of Black history and Black Americans. They dare anyone to suggest they are not exactly where they were meant to be, and they are so damned elegant and graceful, they own the space.
As stated before, I do not have the brain space or time to write something coherent about this show right now. However, the artist herself had something really important to say in a speech at the museum, the night before the opening, and I want to share that with you.
Standing in front of Glen Ligon’s iconic neon sculpture, Sherald said, “We cannot ignore the moment we are living in. The forces of erasure are real. Museums and cultural institutions are being defunded. DEI initiatives, the very efforts that sought to expand and deepen the stories we tell are being dismantled. We are witnessing a push to strip away the progress we have made in telling a fuller, more honest history of this country.
“The same people who love to say “we don’t see color” seem to be working real hard to erase it. The grief, the injustice, the constant noise. It can feel impossible to hold space for creativity. In the middle of all of that, especially as a Black woman, there’s this pressure to respond, to carry, to be present always, and that can make the act of making, which is quiet, personal joy, driven feel either frivolous or too far away.
“That’s what American Sublime is, for me, a body of work that insists on presence, on Black life lived in stillness, in grace and in self definition. Art is not a luxury. It’s not an afterthought. It’s not separate from the world we live in. It is necessary. It reminds us of who we are. It gives us language when words fail. It holds memory when history is rewritten, and it dares to imagine what is possible when so many would rather not dream at all.
“So tonight, as we celebrate American sublime, I ask that we also commit to continue showing up for work that matters, to invest in the institutions and artists who push culture forward, to recognize that art is not simply what hangs on the walls, but also about the lives and the truths it holds. We stand here tonight in defiance of erasure. We stand in presence of beauty.”
I don’t have the capacity to say this better, but I wanted share this with you so that you can appreciate it, internalize it, and live it. We all need this energy right now.
We have to have courage. We have to stay focused. We have to fight for the country we want to live in. Right now it’s especially urgent that we do so. The art and artists can show us how to create spaces for sublimity and critique, for healing and understanding, and to inspire pride and strength in all that we have built and overcome, so we need to support them in earnest.
While it may seem extravagant to go all the way to NYC to be surrounded by paintings while a battle rages to tear our country apart and strip it for parts, let me assure you that it is not. Make a pilgrimage to the Whitney and American Sublime. Allow yourself a couple of days off the news cycle. Create a space for sanity, beauty, and truth - give yourself this gift.
This is all I have today… I’m heading back into the google docs, the fact checking, the draft folders, the photo editing, the emails, the phone calls, the caffeine, and the Zoom meetings - because I have work to do and my deadline is looming and fixed. Issue 19 is going to be gorgeous and you should absolutely make sure you are on our membership list asap!
In the meantime, please enjoy these gallery photos from American Sublime… take a moment to luxuriate in the work of an artist who remains focused, fearless, and inspired.
