Kerry James
Marshall

Growing up in Los Angeles, Kerry James Marshall witnessed the race riots of the summer of 1965. In response to the violence, the African-American emancipation movements that developed had a lasting effect on him. By choosing to paint black figures in large formats, Marshall gives black bodies a place in art history. Taking literally the application of a single adjective to plural complexions, he accentuates the “blackness” of the skin by pigments such as iron oxide, magnifying, in scenes with rich colours, the notion and representation of “black beauty”. Author of his canon, he unites the tradition of Western historical painting with that of African painting, present in the technique and palette. Marshall has taught in a number of important universities and is recognized as having paved the way for engagé painters, like Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The artist now lives and works in Chicago.