Marshall, Kerry James
1955-present · Contribution: 1980-present
Large-scale figurative painting (acrylic on unstretched canvas), drawing, and sculpture centering Black figures in everyday and historical scenes, deliberately rendered in deep, unapologetic black
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Created a 'counter-archive' that reinserts Black figures into the Western painting tradition; his 2016-17 retrospective 'Mastry' toured the MCA Chicago, the Met Breuer, and MOCA LA, and his 'Past Times' (1997) sold for a record $21.1 million in 2018, then the highest price for a living Black artist. MacArthur Fellow (1997); Time 100 (2017).
Life & background
African-American painter born Oct 17, 1955 in Birmingham, AL; raised in South Central Los Angeles. Mentored from high school by Charles White; BFA, Otis Art Institute (1978). Lives and works in Chicago.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica; David Zwirner; MOCA
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