ART AFICIONADO

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Art Appreciation

American painter Amy Sherald was born on August 30, 1973, in Columbus, Georgia, and was raised in the nearby town of St. Marys. From an early age, she displayed an interest in art, though she initially planned to pursue a career outside the field. After seeing the power of painting firsthand during a museum visit, she changed direction and devoted herself to becoming an artist.

Sherald earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from Clark Atlanta University before completing an M.F.A. in painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her path was not without obstacles, including serious health challenges that culminated in a heart transplant in 2012, an experience that strengthened her commitment to her work.

Sherald has built an acclaimed career as a portraitist whose paintings center African Americans in quiet, everyday moments that have historically been underrepresented in Western art. Working primarily with oil paint, she is known for depicting her subjects with grayscale skin tones set against vibrant clothing and simplified backgrounds.

This distinctive approach shifts attention away from race as a biological marker and instead emphasizes individuality, dignity, and shared humanity. In 2016, Sherald gained national recognition when she became the first woman to win the prestigious Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, a milestone that helped establish her as one of the leading contemporary portrait painters in the United States.

Sherald's best-known work is her official portrait of Michelle Obama, unveiled in 2018 for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The portrait was celebrated for its modern interpretation of the former First Lady, presenting her in a striking geometric gown with Sherald's signature grayscale treatment.

She also painted the widely acclaimed portrait of Breonna Taylor in 2020, honoring Taylor's life with grace and humanity following her tragic death.

Other notable works include Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), The Bathers, and For Love, and for Country, all of which reflect Sherald's ongoing exploration of identity, memory, and representation.

Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), 2016

Portrait of Michelle Obama, 2018

The Bathers, 2015

For love, and for country, 2022

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://www.artbook.com/blog-amy-sherald-love-and-country.html

https://npg.si.edu/portrait-search/artist/amy-sherald

https://www.phillips.com/detail/amy-sherald/NY010720/1

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amy-Sherald

https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/28064-amy-sherald

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-appearances/the-mystery-of-amy-sheralds-portrait-of-michelle-obama

https://youtu.be/KcKNiEIVx1A

Katerina Honza

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Saturday, August 29, 2026

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

Music Appreciation

Listening to Depeche Mode’s Violator album through my headset one afternoon, I blurted out to my office mate, “This is the best album ever made.” He raised an eyebrow. “Ever? Better than Abbey Road?” I paused, laughed, and walked it back slightly—“Okay, one of the best.” But I meant it. That album still hits like nothing else.

I first heard Depeche Mode at my grade school best friend’s house. He had a boombox that could load two cassette tapes—one to play, one to record. We’d dub albums for each other, and one day I left with a copy of Violator. It was like taking home a secret code to cool. That tape wore out from overuse, but the music never got old.

Depeche Mode, the English electronic band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, originally featured Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, and Vince Clarke. After Clarke left, Alan Wilder joined and helped shape their darker, more layered sound. With over 100 million records sold and a 2020 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, their influence on modern music is undeniable. The band’s name, borrowed from a French fashion magazine, means “fashion dispatch.”

“Personal Jesus,” released in August 1989 as the lead single from Violator, was a creative pivot for the band. Martin Gore penned the lyrics after reading Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley, exploring the concept of someone being your personal savior. The song blends bluesy guitar with synth textures and brooding vocals.

Its video—Depeche Mode’s first in color—was directed by Anton Corbijn and shot in the Tabernas Desert of Spain. Since then, the song’s legacy has only grown, covered by artists from Johnny Cash to Marilyn Manson, and earning a place on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6683764/

https://cadenaser.com/baleares/2024/11/01/es-solo-musica-pero-nos-gusta-con-julio-molina-depeche-mode-radio-mallorca

https://blurredculture.com/exploring-depeche-modes-legacy-in-la-reflections-from-the-memento-mori-world-tour

https://realvj.com/2013/01/31/depeche-mode-personal-jesus-1989

https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/depeche-mode/meaning-personal-jesus-depeche-mode/

https://www.reddit.com/r/depechemode/comments/1goerz1/personal_jesus_meaning/

https://www.gigwise.com/the-enduring-legacy-of-depeche-mode-style-in-music-history/

Friday, August 28, 2026

MODELING: Anastasiia Mitina

Model: Anastasiia Mitina (@an_stasiia__)

via Truly00

Thursday, August 27, 2026

Man Ray

Art Appreciation

Man Ray, born Emmanuel Radnitzky on August 27, 1890, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was one of the most inventive figures in 20th-century modern art. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, he grew up primarily in Brooklyn, where his artistic interests emerged at an early age.

After graduating from high school, he declined an architecture scholarship and instead pursued art while working as a commercial artist. He studied drawing and painting at several New York institutions, including the Art Students League from 1910 to 1912, while absorbing the influence of European modernism.

His exposure to Cubism and the avant-garde, along with his friendship with Marcel Duchamp, helped steer him toward the experimental approach that would define his career. Man Ray began primarily as a painter but took up photography around 1915, initially because he wanted high-quality photographs of his own paintings. Photography soon became an artistic medium in its own right.

After moving to Paris in 1921, he became closely associated with both Dada and Surrealism, photographing artists, writers, models and other members of the Parisian avant-garde. He experimented with solarization and became famous for his camera-less photographs, which he called “Rayographs”—images made by placing objects directly onto photosensitive paper and exposing them to light.

His work blurred distinctions between painting, photography, sculpture, film and conceptual art. Among his notable works are The Gift (1921), Rayograph (1922), Object to Be Destroyed (1923), Noire et Blanche (1926) and the painting The Rope Dancer Accompanies Herself with Her Shadows (1916).

Perhaps his most recognizable photograph is Le Violon d’Ingres (1924), featuring model and performer Kiki de Montparnasse photographed from behind wearing a turban. Man Ray added the f-shaped sound holes of a violin to her back, visually transforming the human figure into a musical instrument while referencing the paintings of French Neoclassical artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. The photograph embodies Man Ray’s fascination with transforming familiar objects and bodies through unexpected visual associations.

He returned to the United States during World War II, living in Los Angeles from 1940 to 1951, before returning permanently to Paris, where he died in 1976. Although Man Ray considered himself a painter as much as a photographer, his experimental photography helped establish photography as a medium capable of standing alongside painting and sculpture in modern art.'