Monday, July 15, 2019

Former Church of God Member Is Michelle Obama's Official Portraitist


There was an interesting story out today that's in VOGUE Magazine about a former Armstrongite and the journey she went on to become the official portrait of Michelle Obama.


[Amy] Sherald, of course, is the artist behind the now famous official portrait of Michelle Obama that hangs in the Smithsonian. But when she was chosen for the commission, in 2016, she was still largely unknown. Kehinde Wiley, the artist selected to paint President Obama’s portrait, was an art-world star. His bold, heroic portraits of black subjects in poses that channel the Old Masters were on the must-have lists of savvy collectors. Sherald, on the other hand, was a 43-year-old African American artist who lived and worked in Baltimore. She painted vivid, head-on portraits of people she met on the street (and photographed)—“an American realist, painting American people doing American things,” she tells me. Her name had surfaced in front of the Obamas because she had recently won the National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, a contest open to any professional artist working in the United States. She is the first woman and the first African American to win it.
Sherald’s painting of the former First Lady is larger than life and gloriously untraditional. Michelle sits facing us, chin resting on one hand, arms bare, rising from a mountainous, floor-length white skirt with geometric patterns in black, red, pink, and yellow. But the critical response was mixed. New York Times art critic Holland Cotter thought the dress outperformed the person. He wrote, “Mrs. Obama’s face . . . could be almost anyone’s face, like a model’s face in a fashion spread.” New York Magazine’s Jerry Saltz disagreed. “She is grand, elegant, gorgeous, but her jackrabbit-quick wit is right there.” The most indelible reaction came from two-year-old Parker Curry, who was photographed standing in front of the painting, a look of awed enchantment on her face. “She’s a queen,” Parker told her mother; her reaction, and the painting itself, went viral. To me, the image captures not only the power and spirit of the subject, but also the hope and promise that Michelle Obama embodies, and art’s ability to encompass that.
--------

Sherald was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, the third of four children. Her father was a dentist, but when Sherald was seven, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which ended his practice. “We were doing well, and then we were not doing well, because there was no money,” she says. To make ends meet, her all-conquering mother, who had been a housewife, became a bank manager, and Sherald took over a lot of the housework and looked after her younger brother, Michael. “Our house had woods behind it, so we’d walk back there and explore and set traps for raccoons and do crazy stuff.” The family went to church every Saturday, a strict fundamentalist sect called the Worldwide Church of God, which forbids celebrating Christmas, Easter, or birthdays, and bans TV from Friday night to Saturday night.

Read her story here:   Amy Sherald, Michelle Obama’s Portraitist, Readies her New York Debut

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, what do you expect when someone who obviously was never converted leaves the truth. Horrible painting of a horrible person.

Cara said...

Anonymous, I hope you one day get out of the cult you are in. This is a beautiful painting of a beautiful woman.

Anonymous said...

opera singer kathleen battle also grew up in the original wwcg...

Byker Bob said...

You are one cold, heartless bastard, 8:51! One of us overcomes our background and excels, and all you can do is put her down!

BB

Richard Burkard said...

I attended WCG with the Sheralds, before Pasadena intervened in 2000 and fired the Pastor to switch the service to Sundays.

Even with serious Parkinson's, "Doc" Sherald was able to lead the congregation in prayers from his chair in the middle of the hall. His bride indeed has kept a great spirit and displayed strong faith (at least in public) through the years.

I don't know the children that well, but they've seemed to display good character as well. May God bless them as they walk with Him.

Anonymous said...

9:03 what is your proof that Battle was a former COG member? All of her autobiographies say she as an AME member growing up. I also highly doubt that if she were an ex-member that she would have ever performed in the Auditorium like she did.

Anonymous said...

so, this blog allows someone to post a negative opinion of mrs obama (not to mention the allowance of racist posts about tonto), but refuses to allow me to clap back???

c f ben yochanan

please stop censoring me...

NO2HWA said...

This isn't going to become a debate about the Obama's and Trump. This has nothing to do with Trump. So don't even start or I will not post them.

Anonymous said...

8.51 PM
Many people stop attending services and are still 'converted.' A Christian is one who follows Christ rather one who attends church, remember?
And how converted is someone who publicly accuses another of being unconverted?

NO2HWA said...

c f ben yochanan...

I let that first post through because it is a typical COG response filled with COG nonsense. This is not going to be a debate on Trump no matter how many rude posts you send me.

Anonymous said...

New York Times art critic Holland Cotter thought the dress outperformed the person. He wrote, “Mrs. Obama’s face . . . could be almost anyone’s face, like a model’s face in a fashion spread.”

That's an interesting observation about the work of a painter who grew up in a cult that repressed individuality and focused on externals. What's inarguable is that the portrait breaks the mold of the previous First Ladies' portraits; it stands out as very individualistic when placed next to all the others. It also takes a few years off of Mrs. Obama's actual face, which I'm sure pleased both artist and subject. Definitely more of a "statement" than a realistic portrait.

TLA said...

Wow! Beginning of the Vogue article- she had a heart transplant. Medical technology has come a long way in our lifetimes.
In addition to the positive things she has accomplished, the most amazing thing to me is that the heart transplant is almost treated like a non event.

Anonymous said...

Not a great fan of the Obamas, however I applaud Ms Sherald for her success as an artist. I hope she is well on the road to recovery from the damage done to her growing-up in WCG.

Anonymous said...

8:51pm Grow up!

Kevin

Anonymous said...

hateful comments about mrs obama, an accomplished women, is not typical cog nonsense; it is merely typical of the bitter, mocking spirit that you welcome on this blog...

c f ben yochanan

please stop censoring me...

Anonymous said...

Whether one disagrees with the politics of the Obama's (as I do) or not, is no reason for the comment by 8:51pm. It was childish and definately portrays the majority mindset of the acogs.

Kevin

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Amy Sherald. You painted a beautiful portrait of Michelle Obama. I’m so glad you were able to break free of the clutches of the cult to pursue your talent and career in art. I would wish others would follow your brave example.

Tonto said...

I think many of us dislike the fact that we get tagged with "WAS a member of the Worldwide Church of God" monikers. It is a form of stereotyping and creation of a prejudice and cloud placed on people.

It is often a way to diminish a person , me thinks. In other words, if they were dumb enough to be in a cult, then they must be dumb now.

I know that Im embarrassed about having been duped and involved with WCG, and I live life as a sort of "in the closet" about my involvement. It is sort of like being a cross dresser or gay, and keeping it on the "down low" for fear of either professional or personal judgement by current peers and business associates.

I certainly do not want to have any of my personal or business reputation to be tarnished by the crazy ass lives of HWA/GTA that is for sure, and I offer no defense for them in the least.

The painting is unique in that it broke out of the "Victorian Style" of previous first ladies paintings up until this one. It will certainly be viewed as a "break out" and bold innovative painting by future art critics.

DennisCDiehl said...

Yes 851, that "never converted" will thwart one's creativity, talents not to mention gentleness, meekness, kindness and longsuffering every time. Good thing religion has you to separate the sheep from the goats, chosen from unchosen, called from uncalled, genuinely talented from the merely satan inspired and the righteous from the unrighteous. I bet you're in the one true and only church on earth too aren't you? lol Oi!

Anonymous said...

This morning I emailed a good friend of mine the Vogue article on Amy Sherald.
My friend never had exposure to the WCG but is familiar with it through me.

She responded:
'Very interesting article! I've got to say that Church produced some remarkable individuals (yourself included). What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!'

Anonymous said...

Technically, since there is no such thing as the holy spirit, nobody was ever converted. Especially the subversives among us. But at least some has a genuine change of life and values.

Anonymous said...

Did the church produce remarkable people, or just get in the way of their own genetic capabilities and slow them down?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Technically, since there is no such thing as the holy spirit, nobody was ever converted. Especially the subversives among us. But at least some has a genuine change of life and values.

July 16, 2019 at 12:47 PM" ""


Could you please prove that dogmatic statement?

Anonymous said...

@12:51pm - trust me, she is NO fan of the WCG.

What she meant was because Amy Sherald grew up in the WCG, she is remarkable in what she accomplished because of what it meant to be in the WCG.
She also likes to listen to NPR and was telling me about some of the stuff Glynn Washington was saying about WCG since I hadn't heard of him before.

Did the WCG get in the way of a person's potential? Absolutely. I was a late bloomer because of it- as soon as I severed ties to the WCG, my life got a whole lot better.

Monnie said...

If I hadn't been in WCG for so very long, I might think your nasty comment was a bad parody. Your outrageous remark is a good reminder that I stayed in too long but at least I'm not still in that mind control regime.

Anonymous said...

It seems criticizing anyone with a pc protected identity means real true open discussion has being diminished. This is not a good painting. You could see it everyones face at the revealing... Including Obamas.

It lacks interest, depth and character. The odd meaningless dress drowns out the person and adds nothing dramatic or metaphorical.

The body is out of proportions like the face in an amateurish manner. A highly skilled painter would have made the proportions exacting or if off a bit would have shown purpose behind the distortions.

Her being an ex church member is an oddity for sure, but maybe not particularly relevant to her current success.

Byker Bob said...

2:30 ~ Why don’t you paint a picture of Mrs. Obama for all of us, so that we can determine whether you are a fit critic of Amy Sherald’s work???

BB

Anonymous said...

so, you admit that there is such a thing as a subversive spirit, but deny there is a Holy Spirit???

c f ben yochanan

Anonymous said...

@ 8:51pm
'Well, what do you expect when someone who obviously was never converted leaves the truth. Horrible painting of a horrible person.'

Sorry toots, you have already let the cat out of the bag. You can't leap from your original post, as noted above, and then suddenly become an art critic.

It just won't do - you've already outed yourself.



Anonymous said...

ascribing this persons post to the cog without proof is typical of the followers of this blog, and frankly typical of the antichristian sentiments what have risen to prominence in these last days...

that post is merely indicative of a flocking together of birds of a feather; a joining of kindred spirits...

c f ben yochanan

Anonymous said...

Yochanan

"ascribing this persons post to the cog without proof is typical of the followers of this blog, and frankly typical of the antichristian sentiments what have risen to prominence in these last days..."

What the hell are you talking about? This most certainly has been COG sentiment from the 1950's onward. When my family joined in the 1950's I heard this over and over as a child and as the decades went by. I grew up hearing the "unconverted" label thrown at people anytime they disagreed with the church or left it. You are sticking your head in the sand if you claim otherwise.

Anonymous said...

The painting is contoversial - many like it and many don't.
The WCG demanded uniformity of thought - which is still practiced on this blog.
The head is too small for the body and misshapen, the hand covers a too-short neck, one arm is longer than the other, the musculature of the arms are not like any of the different phases she passed through as First Lady, and the skin tone is leaning toward an unatutal gray-brown.
I recognize the expression on the face as Michelle Obama which displays advanced talent but yet still seems amateurish. The dress is amazing,it is the one aspect of the painting that captured the bold, nontraditional, avant garde statement the Obamas desired.
I am an artist who sells in three galleries. Yes, I have not achieved the same degree of success as this painter but my standards and ego would prevent me from putting my name on anything of the quality of this portrait.
I think history will also judge this work harshly, after the country has enjoyed more diverse Presidents and no longer needs to fawn over the Obamas the way the WCG adored everything, good or hideous, that HWA said and did.
I also got in trouble in the WCG for speaking my mind.

nck said...

The only artist to make an acceptable painting in black and white would have been Wolverton. Michelle would make a great Eve. Hair flowing over the interesting parts.

Some of the comments sound like comments on "entartete kunst". A former colleague of mine transformed into a "Vogue" artist and my kin (former wcg) sell to the stars.

I would find it interesting if her upbringing was related to an apreciation of art and beauty.

She should monetize her sabatarian upbringing in New York and Manhattan galleries, instead of reffering to it as "wierd."

What is nice and becoming in the arts is in the eyes of the beholder anyway. But marketeers need "a story".

Nck

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:47 Admits to being a subversive. Subversives are usually from the ministry.
A closet atheist. Shame you live a lie.

Anonymous said...

6:26pm saod: "I grew up hearing the "unconverted" label thrown at people anytime they disagreed with the church or left it. You are sticking your head in the sand if you claim otherwise."


Maybe he was in an area that used the "you're in a bad attitude" response to mentally control people. Unconverted, bad attitude, same method of control!

Kevin

Anonymous said...

@9:52pm

Which Wolverton are you referring to - Basil or Monte? I'm aware of their drawings - don't recall seeing their black and white paintings.

As noted in the link below, 'For centuries, painters have taken away color from their art as a way of enhancing it.' So you may get some push back that 'the only artist to make an acceptable painting in black and white would have been Wolverton.' Basil or Monte.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/monochrome-national-gallery/index.html



Tonto said...

Barrack Obama's official portrait is considered controversial and different too...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Barack_Obama_(painting)

Anonymous said...

Art has always been controversial, especially when it didn't conform to the already accepted status quo.

Art that grabs the public's attention can be based on many things, especially if it reflects the current times we live in.

Poster @ 7:10pm criticized (among many criticisms) Mrs. Obama's skin tones. But that was the artist's intention, as is explained in the link below. Obviously, @7:10pm doesn't like the Obama's so it wouldn't be possible to accept any of his/her criticisms since we can't be sure what they are based on and they have undermined her credibility as an art critic.

https://medium.com/high-museum-of-art/whats-behind-the-gray-skin-tones-and-arresting-eyes-in-amy-sherald-s-portraits-8d21477d6b40

nck said...

7:18
It just an "insider" joke meant to be funny and throw a bone to the "all was bad" people.

Nck

Anonymous said...

@9:28

Go watch the revealing I'd the painting. No one likes it. They had to put on fake responses. The initial reaction this painting causes in people range from wtf, ugh, terrible all the way to "how embarrassing for the Obamas".

I know anyone can be an art critic but there really is such a thing as poor quality art. And if there is a real genuine art critic that specifically addresses the artistic choices the painter made.... And approves of those choices, I'd like to know. But from what I have seen the praise is based on race and sex not artistic achievement.

Anonymous said...

@9:28

Go watch the revealing I'd the painting. No one likes it. They had to put on fake responses. The initial reaction this painting causes in people range from wtf, ugh, terrible all the way to "how embarrassing for the Obamas".

I know anyone can be an art critic but there really is such a thing as poor quality art. And if there is a real genuine art critic that specifically addresses the artistic choices the painter made.... And approves of those choices, I'd like to know. But from what I have seen the praise is based on race and sex not artistic achievement.

nck said...

COG people do not conform to the average red neck american believe that Mrs Obama is a man.
Or at least I have not seen that commented on this blog before.

nck

Byker Bob said...

Gee, Nck! The John Deere tractor dealership was right across the street from my grade school, and I never thought Michelle Obama was a man. Does that mean I can’t be a card carrying ‘necksican?

BB

RSK said...

Must really enjoy impressionist galleries then. :)

nck said...

The blog allows me to be a red nck.
You do as you please.
I have to ask. When riding a bike do you wear one of those black german type helmets?

Man I picture you as ZZ Top while in reality you must look like lucifer.

Nck

Byker Bob said...

I hate helmets, nck. Only problem now during the summer is that my old Shovelhead motor cooks my balls at all the traffic lights. I usually wear a bandana. Beard is neatly trimmed. I like ZZ Top’s earlier material when they played the blues, Billy and Dusty wore their western clothes, including cowboy hats, and their beards looked more like mine. Any more questions?

BB

nck said...

No man.

You are the biker hero friend I never had! Do not be disturbed when I admit that I phantasize about you.

I'm listening to that Mash song. It was written by a 14 year old the quizmaster says.

Nck