Citing censorship concerns, Georgia-born artist cancels show at Smithsonian

“Internal concerns had been raised,” Sherald, a fine arts major at Clark Atlanta University, said in a statement, about her painting “Trans Forming Liberty,” which features a Black, transgender individual with hot pink hair and eyebrows wearing a royal blue gown posing in the position of the Statue of Liberty with the liberty flame replaced by blooming flowers.

“These concerns led to discussions about removing the work from the exhibition,” her statement said. “It’s clear that institutional fear shaped by a broader climate of political hostility toward trans lives played a role.”

The Smithsonian and other art institutions receiving federal grants have been under scrutiny since March, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” that asserted the country had witnessed an effort to rewrite national history. He argued that the Smithsonian had “in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.”

A White House official told The New York Times that the “removal of this exhibit is a principled and necessary step” toward correcting the role of institutions such as the Smithsonian.

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

“Portraiture has always been my way of asserting presence — of creating visibility where there has too often been erasure,” Sherald wrote in a letter published by The New York Times that the artist wrote to Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, on Wednesday. “When that visibility is compromised, even subtly, it alters not only the artwork, but the message it carries. I cannot consent to that.”

The Smithsonian issued a statement: “While we understand Amy’s decision to withdraw her show from the National Portrait Gallery, we are disappointed that Smithsonian audiences will not have an opportunity to experience ‘American Sublime.’ … Unfortunately, we could not come to an agreement with the artist. We remain appreciative and inspired by Ms. Sherald, her artwork and commitment to portraiture.”

The exhibit, the largest presentation of the artist’s work to date, was organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It opened there last year before moving to New York’s Whitney Museum, where it is on view through Aug. 10.

Had “American Sublime” been exhibited at the Smithsonian starting Sept. 19 as planned, it would have been the first exhibition by a Black contemporary artist at the National Portrait Gallery.

“I entered into this collaboration in good faith, believing that the institution shared a commitment to presenting work that reflects the full, complex truth of American life,” Sherald wrote in her letter. “Unfortunately, it has become clear that the conditions no longer support the integrity of the work as conceived.’’