How do the choices we make affect how others perceive us? Many of Sherald’s portraits often speak of a split between a person’s inner life and the face they show to the world—a recurring theme that connects the works shown here. This separation might be an intentional choice someone makes to express different identities through varying clothes, attitudes, or body language. Alternatively, it might be an involuntary or self-protective response to cope with the biases or assumptions of others.  In 1897, sociologist and civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois wrote of the “double-consciousness” experienced by Black people living in American society, describing it as a “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others.” These paintings make visible the state Du Bois describes, honoring the difficulty of double consciousness while also offering images of empowered subjects holding the gazes of others and embodying their complex personal experiences. 📍 See “Amy Sherald: Ame...