Amy & Toyin

It has been 95+ degrees since the start of summer, or at least It feels like that was the case since June. As a result, I kept waiting for the weather to break. Lucked out beyond my imagination to get to both Amy Sherald and Toyin Ojih Odutola’s exhibitions on the same day. In fact today was the last day of Toyin Ojih Odutola’s “Ilé Oriaku,” a massive exhibition at the absolutely beautiful, Jack Shainman Gallery, 46 Lafayette Street, (an historical structure, former bank and former home office of New York Life.)

Came into the city via ferry and walked down to the Whitney for Amy Sherald’s “American Sublime exhibition. Glad I wore my hat and thick sole converse sneakers.

After enjoying, what felt like five rooms of large scale portraits, I sat still to watch the 14 min video below, and then went back to several pieces, the details of which the clip highlighted, and I missed on the first pass.

Amy Sherald

”In her studio in New Jersey, artist Amy Sherald paints portraits that tell a story about American lives. Her face just inches away from a canvas, the artist carefully applies stroke after stroke, building her narrative through paint. “I really have this belief that images can change the world,” says Sherald, a belief she acts upon in her compelling paintings, which depict everyday people with dignity and humanity. Following the tradition of American realists like Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, the artist uses her paintings to tell stories about America. Searching for models, settings, and scenarios that would convey the kinds of stories she wanted to tell, Sherald began to populate the world of her paintings with everyday people in everyday situations.”

“The Nigeria-born, Alabama-raised artist, who is currently based in New York, has been on a steadily ascending trajectory that began with a major show at the Barbican Centre, London, in 2020, travelled to the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark, and then to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. In 2022, “New Work: Toyin Ojih Odutola” premiered at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which was followed by “Ilé Oriaku” at the Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, in 2024. That same year she was included in the Nigerian pavilion exhibition “Nigeria Imaginary,” curated by Aindrea Emelife, at the 60th Venice Biennale.”

Good Read — https://news.artnet.com/art-world/toyin-ojih-odutola-

The exhibition was “a tribute to her late grandmother, Josephine Oriaku Ojih. Born from the grief that enveloped Ojih Odutola some years ago, “Ilé Oriaku” is more than an homage, it’s a channeling of spirit and energy. Turning to drawing as a way to transmute her emotions, Ojih Odutola became a vessel for stories that seemed to write themselves, drawing deeply from her Igbo and Yoruba heritage.”

And the space was filled with nothing but “spirit energy” on this last day.

https://www.essence.com/fashion/toyin-odutola-on-style-within-ile-oriaku/

I was giddy beyond words being able to catch the community experiencing the exhibition with me. I take it as a confirmation to continue “walking this way” as the spirits, colors and shadows cast during the day said “Yes” at every turn, corner and angle.

Beautiful.

Exquisite afternoon.

Grateful.

Amy Sherald

Good Read — https://news.artnet.com/art-world/toyin-ojih-odutola-

Toyin Odutola