Amy Sherald’s artwork titles are “small poems unto themselves that offer a runway to enter and contemplate the paintings,” writes @alexanderlizzy for her essay in the Amy Sherald: American Sublime exhibition catalogue. This painting—Listen, you a wonder. You a city of a woman. You got a geography of your own (2016)—takes its title from Lucille Clifton’s poem, what the mirror said, which @asherald called “a powerful affirmation of Black womanhood, self-worth, and embodied identity.” Hear more from the artist about this work in our exhibition audio guide at the link in our profile. Amy Sherald: American Sublime is on view through August 10. — Amy Sherald, Listen, you a wonder. You a city of a woman. You got a geography of your own (detail), 2016. Oil on canvas, 54 × 43 × 2 1/2 in. (137.16 × 109.22 × 6.35 cm). Collection of Rashid Johnson and Sheree Hovsepian. © Amy Sherald. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Joseph Hyde (fb)

The New York Times writes that Amy Sherald's paintings "challenge the conventions of portraiture." Read the full review below. Amy Sherald: American Sublime is on view now through August 10 at the Whitney. (fb)