Untitled (Exquisite Corpse Rollerblades)

This painting is part of a series in which Kerry James Marshall takes up the exquisite corpse, the surrealist game of collective composition in which an image, often absurd, appears at the end. Here, the artist paints each part himself, creating multiple identities within a fragmented whole.

A Black woman is lying down, her body divided into four parts painted in different pictorial styles. The upper part of her body is punctuated by two mysterious elements: stardust swirling above her and the bone necklace she is holding. These motifs may suggest a link between memory and transcendence, without their meaning being fixed.

At the waist, the perspective changes, revealing her naked lower body. The fine lines, reminiscent of modern anatomical drawings, focus attention on her buttocks, historically the object of racist gazes and studies. Finally, in the last section in black and white, only her legs and rollerbladed feet appear. The style, reminiscent of comic books, emphasizes the incongruity of this unusual detail in an intimate context.

At the heart of Marshall's practice is an examination of the representation of Black people in art history. Here, he combines fiction and historical references, bringing different temporalities into coexistence.

This work is held by the Pinault Collection and was first presented at the "Corps et âmes" exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce in 2025.