ART AFICIONADO: Kerry James Marshall

Friday, October 17, 2025

Kerry James Marshall

Art Appreciation

Kerry James Marshall was born on October 17, 1955, in Birmingham, Alabama, and moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1963, settling in the Watts neighborhood. Growing up during a period marked by social unrest and the rise of the civil rights and Black Power movements, Marshall developed a strong awareness of representation and history.

His childhood, shaped by both upheaval and artistic discovery, informed his later work. He studied at Los Angeles City College before earning his B.F.A. from Otis Art Institute in 1978. This foundation in both practice and theory laid the groundwork for a career rooted in mastery of medium and narrative complexity.

Marshall’s art centers on Black life, presented in large-scale, richly rendered paintings that employ deep, literal black pigments. His early work, such as A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self (1980), set the tone for a career steeped in narrative, history, and irony.

Peter Schjeldahl’s review of Marshall’s 2016 retrospective Mastry at the Met Breuer emphasized that rather than making a political appeal, the exhibition affirmed the cultural and artistic gains of African Americans. His paintings celebrate everyday experiences—beauty salons, public housing, intimate domesticity—without reducing them to cliché or victimhood. Works like School of Beauty, School of Culture (2012) embody this approach, presenting confident Black women and children in a salon.

Marshall draws influence from both African-American and Western traditions, often positioning himself in dialogue with artists like Romare Bearden and Charles White alongside old masters such as Ingres and Seurat. This deliberate inclusion, described by Schjeldahl as a “show within the show,” highlights Marshall as a conservative aesthete compared to more concept-driven peers like Kara Walker or David Hammons.

Notable works such as Great America (1994) and The Lost Boys series (1993–1995) demonstrate his ability to merge social commentary with technical brilliance. His retrospective underscored a career committed to reframing the Black experience as central to American cultural life. Schjeldahl argued that Marshall’s technical skill and emotional range suggest a new standard in contemporary art—an affirmation that Black presence is not marginal but integral to the story of America.