Welfare Queen 2012

Amy Sherald made this painting called "Welfare Queen", and, wow, look at those red-pink fields of color! I can imagine Amy circling the canvas, brush in hand, thinking about the way this painting can undo stereotypes. The title is so loaded, right? And then she gives us a queen. It's pretty subversive. I wonder what Amy was feeling as she painted that sash and tiara. There's a sense of empowerment, for sure. I love the gray skin. That gesture asks us to think about race differently. It kind of freezes the figure in place. And those eyes—they’re really looking back at us. Sherald does that a lot, doesn't she? This painting really gets under my skin, and I’m left thinking about what a painting can do!