Another theme becomes clear in this survey of Sherald’s work: the artist’s devotion to capturing the joys of the Black American experience. Her women are often shown at rest—taking a moment to sip tea, ride a bike, or go for a swim. “So many of the narratives around Black people are, very understandably, of suffering, violence, deprivation, and lack,” says Hockley. But Sherald chooses to foreground something else: “the joy of autonomy, self-sufficiency, interiority, and protecting your peace.”

The curator continues: “It’s about knowing who you are and standing in your power. Amy’s work is uplifting, but not in a saccharine way. She talks about the wonder and honor of what it is to be a Black American and a Black person in this world, saying, ‘Look at us. Look at how we have survived, look at how we thrive, look at how much joy we take in ourselves, in our families, in our communities, in our self-presentation. Look at how powerful we are.’”

To Sherald, she’s simply doing what she’s always done: painting “what I see and what I feel—people on the margins, people in transition, people being real.” In a world where there is “more noise, more spectacle,” she admits she sometimes worries “the soul gets lost in all the performance.” But with her vividly beautiful work, Sherald offers an alternative vision. “These are everyday people, but there’s something transcendent about the way they exist in the world,” she says. “That’s the sublime I’m interested in—a quiet, powerful assertion of being.”

“Amy Sherald: American Sublime ” is on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art through August 10.