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• 1 media/Screen Shot 2020-12-07 at 9.58.41 PM.png media/Screen Shot 2020-12-07 at 10.40.31 PM.png 2020-11-02T23:09:18+00:00 Kerry James Marshall: A Legacy Worth Remembering 36 By: Teresa Anderson plain 2020-12-14T06:13:55+00:00 For too long now, American art galleries have been filled with works that, in large, represent one world view. Throughout time, contemporaries have shaped the historical narrative, after all, and in 19th Century America this meant a Eurocentric view. There was little diversity of thought and few contradicting voices to challenge spectators and encourage intellectual growth. But as previously-muted voices have muscled their way into history’s chronicle, it has become necessary for museums to reconsider their collections, and the inclusion of artists like Kerry James Marshall is a necessity. Marshall is not merely an addendum to the story; He is fundamental to it. Through his use of juxtaposing colors, the approachability of his paintings, and a prolific career spanning four decades, he represents an important chapter of art history.  
  
  Indeed, Marshall’s use of color has set him apart. The artist is known for contrasting unexpected combinations of bold hues in a single scene.[1] He illustrates his unique artistic style in his masterpiece, “School of Beauty, School of Culture.'' By placing bright colors like yellow next to black, green alongside blue, and yellow adjacent to pink, Marshall infuses a lively energy, “enact[ing] that same tendency toward the theatrical'' that is synonymous with the African-American culture.[2] At quick glance, the beauty salon scene seems reminiscent of a Harlem Renaissance club scene, complete with party lights, bright colorful suits, a trumpet player in pink, and dancers front and center on the dance floor. The setting may be ordinary, but there is nothing mundane about the way Marshall manipulates color to bring forth a vibrant black community. Most unmistakable is the manner in which Marshall employs an almost jet-black color for his subjects’ skin. Cast against the vibrant, colorful surroundings, the heavy shades of black stand in stark contrast. It is in this manner that Marshall’s work is both approachable and commanding. Many of the scenes are ordinary, playful, and packed-full of frivolity, but the heavy black characters demand closer examination. 
  
  Born in the South and raised in South Central Los Angeles during the height of the civil rights movement,[3] Marshall’s paintbrush and color board became his tools for social commentary. Through everyday depictions of Blacks, like the one seen in his artwork Untiled (Club Couple), Marshall implants positive images of African-Americans in the minds of his audience.[4] The Black couple in the painting sit and hold hands at the club. They smile. They love. They drink fancy mixed drinks. They look like any typical couple in love, and that’s exactly Marshall’s objective—to humanize Blacks.[5]Through these everyday depictions of Black men and women, Marshall defines a more authentic image of blackness.
  
  Another important topic that Marshall is able to creatively bring forward through his particular artistic style is the issue of Black invisibility. Marshall does this by painting his subjects in a conspicuously jet-black color. In some cases, the subjects’ features are barely delineated. This choice creates, at times, an illusion where clothed shadows appear to be at play in his work. The artist’s purpose is to make others aware that Blacks in America “can sometimes be seen and not seen at the same time.”[6] Marshall’s work is not only aesthetically pleasing, but meaningful, as he broaches important issues regarding the marginalization of his people, often without the detection of the audience. 
  
  Nearly as unique as his use of colors has been Marshall’s ability to stay relevant. With a prolific career spanning almost four decades, Marshall’s adroit storytelling skills and his desire to share his culture accurately has produced roughly 80 wall-sized paintings on display throughout the United States and other parts of the world.[7]   Among his earlier, yet impactful paintings, is “A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self.” He created it in 1993, a couple years after he graduated from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.[8] The image is of a very dark man, whose only recognizable features are the whites of his eyes and a large white smile. The image echoes the racist blackface caricatures from the early 1900s.[9] However, the early work reveals Marshall’s interest in using color to bring forth social issues, notably the duality Black people experience in America - Black people as present but unseen.[10]
  
  Most of Marshall’s work, like that of “De Style,” 1993 assumes everyday life settings—a park, a neighborhood, a living room, and other images of familiarity. However, with wildly, imaginative updos, jet-black skin tone, and, per usual, bold, contrasting colors, Marshall conveys a message that is consistent in all his work--Black people are unapologetically Black.[11]
  
  Frustratingly, Marshall has yet to enjoy widespread acclaim. But just as museums have been forced to revisit their collections, art historians and, more broadly, all historians, ought to more closely examine the contributions of Marshall. Be it his unique approach to colors, or the approachability of his work, or the fact that he has contributed important dialogue for four decades, recognition for Marshall must be amplified.   
  
   
  
   
   

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  [1] Francey Russel, “Precarious Paintings, Precarious Lives: on ‘Kerry James Marshall: Mastry,’” Los Angeles Review of Books, June 28, 2016. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/precarious-paintings-precarious-lives-kerry-james-marshall-mastry/

  [2] Calvin Reid, “Kerry James Marshall,” New Art Publications, No. 62 (1998): 45

  [3] Calvin Reid, “Kerry James Marshall,” 45

  [4] Jessie L. Marshall, “Invisibility of Blackness: Visual Responses of Kerry James Marshall,” National Art Education Association, Vol. 62, No. 2 (2009):38

  [5] Jessie L. Marshall, “Invisibility of Blackness: Visual Responses of Kerry James Marshall,” 38

  [6] Jessie L. Marshall, “Invisibility of Blackness: Visual Responses of Kerry James Marshall,” 33

  [7] “Kerry James Marshall: Mastry,” The Met online, Oct. 24, 2016. https://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2016/kerry-james-marshall

  [8] Calvin Reid, “Kerry James Marshall,” 45

  [9] Holland Cotter, “Kerry James Marshall’s Painting Show What It Means to be Black in America,” New York Times, Oct. 20, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/arts/design/kerry-james-marshalls-paintings-show-what-it-means-to-be-black-in-america.html

  [10] Holland Cotter, “Kerry James Marshall’s Painting Show What It Means to be Black in America.”

  [11] Calvin Reid, “Kerry James Marshall,” 45