Ayesha Curry’s Sweet July store black icon portraits
Oakland | April 2021
Sweet July’s living room area | Photo courtesy of Sweet July
Sweet July Oakland’s Black icon wall
Inspired by the community’s vibrancy, a move to Oakland infused new life into Lopez’s portraits, which are known for their unique use of line, shape and color. Sweet July tapped the visionary to create the Black Icon Wall at SJ’s flagship store, which features 17 portraits of female trailblazers like Meghan Markle, Iman and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Lopez’s portrait of politician, lawyer, and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams. Courtesy of Micheal J Lopez.
Actress, comedian, author and television personality Whoopi Goldberg as portrayed by artist Micheal J Lopez. Courtesy of Micheal J Lopez.
“Of the 17 portraits my favorite is Ella Baker. She is a hero of the civil rights movement and her portrait conveys confidence, strength, trust, and empathy. It was a portrait that I created while our country was transitioning into our current administration and it was particularly fitting and inspiring to be working on it during this time.”
The first Black woman elected to Congress, in 1972 Shirley Chisholm also became the first African American to run for President. Here, a closer look at Lopez’s tribute. Courtesy of Micheal J Lopez.
Lopez’s portrait of award-winning actress Regina King. Courtesy of Micheal J Lopez.
My process is a mixed media variant of my oil portraiture. I start by sketching the portrait in freehand over a thin sheet of semi transparent paper. I then begin cutting shapes and contours from construction and textured papers to make up the color aspects of the portraits. There is a lot of trial and error involved at this stage but this is the fun part. The final pieces are multi-layered paper with a final pastel quick sketch creating a unique portrait style fitting of the amazing subjects I am representing.
Also featured in Architectural Digest.