Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have selected the two artists that will paint their portraits and the choices are, well, fantastic. Artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald have been tasked with the job. The official portraits will be housed at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Wiley will be painting Barack's portrait while Sherald will paint Michelle.
Wiley, who is a New York-based and Los Angeles-born portrait painter, is known for painting grandiose portraits of black people and placing them behind heroic and colorful backdrops. Much of Wiley's work draws inspiration from Renaissance masters. Wiley often looks to hip-hop for inspiration. The New York-based artists has created works that feature the likes of Ice T, LL Cool J, Swizz Beatz, Spike Lee, and others.
Amy Sherald is an American painter based in Baltimore, Maryland whose work often touches on issues of social justice and race. Born in Columbus, Gerogia, Sherald's work is included in public collections located in The United States Embassy Dakar in Senegal, The National Museum of African American History and Culture, The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and FTI Technologies Inc. in Baltimore.
The portraits, which are sure to be amazing, will be unveiled sometime in 2018.
