Kerry James Marshall

Kerry James Marshall (born October 17, 1955, in Birmingham, Alabama, raised in Los Angeles, and based in Chicago) is an acclaimed American painter, professor, and author of a visual canon that centers Black identity in art history. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Marshall spent over a decade teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was named to Time’s Time 100 list in 2017 for his cultural influence A-Z Quotes+15+15+15. His paintings challenge the invisibility of Black figures in Western art by making them central—both visually and conceptually—to his compositions +15The New Yorker+15+15.

As a creative “author,” Marshall constructs a visual archive through works like A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self and series including The Garden Project and Rythm Mastr—a comics-inspired exploration of Black myth and culture Architectural Digest+15A-Z Quotes+15The New Yorker+15. His art serves as narrative and activism: making visible the Black experience in everyday settings—beauty salons, barber shops, parks, public housing—with rich color and symbolic depth ACC Art Books UK.

Marshall’s quotes articulate his artistic philosophy: “When you go to an art museum, the thing you’re least likely to encounter is a picture of a black person. … the black figure is absent.” BrainyQuote He also reflects: “Black painters have done all kinds of work. It's the treatment of forms… that's what determines the value … not whether you call them a black artist or not.” +5A-Z Quotes+5+5 And on agency and change: “I don't believe in hope. I believe in action… Everything is in your hands.” BrainyQuote+1Goodreads+1 These words underscore his mission: remedy art history’s erasure, elevate Black beauty, and invite viewers into a visual dialogue of cultural affirmation.