All images courtesy of Art21A Visit to Amy Sheralds Studio Revels in Her Commitment to BeautyMarch 19, 2025ArtFilmGrace EbertFrom the studio to her childhood bedroom in Columbus, Georgia, to the museum, a new film from Art21 presents a broad portrait of Amy Sherald. The artist is perhaps best known for her depiction of former First Lady Michelle Obama and her signature images of Black Americans rendered in grayscale.In Singular Moments, the Art21 team peers into Sheralds process and captures the intricacies of creating a work. Reference photos taped to a wall and paint squirted onto white paper plates accompany the artist as she works on her increasingly large-scale canvases.Sherald frequently paints people she knows, beginning with their faces and eyes before moving on to the rest of their figures. As the title of the film suggests, her focus is on a single moment of beauty. I think beautiful paintings are important, she says in the film. I say figuration is like the soul food of art making. Its what takes you back home and what you eat when you need comfort, and we all need that at some point.The film comes ahead of Sheralds first solo exhibition at a New York museum, American Sublime, which will present about 50 works from 2007 to today next month at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In addition to a visit to the artists parents home, filled with grade-school pictures and teenage art projects, viewers also witness the creation of some of her more recent works, particularly those exploring what it means to be an American.Watch Singular Moments above, and be sure to read our conversation with the artist in which she discusses anxiety and finding respite in her work.Next article