WASHINGTON -- "I try to make work about things that matter," Kerry James Marshall says to describe his art, which uses paint and canvas to tell stories of the African-American experience.
That work goes on display Friday at the National Gallery of Art's Tower Gallery in Marshall's first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C.
"In the Tower: Kerry James Marshall" is composed of 10 paintings and more than 20 drawings by the Alabama native, including "Great America," which the National Gallery acquired in 2011.
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In the Tower: Kerry James Marshall
Voyager, 1992(01 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic and collage on canvasoverall size: 233.36 x 233.05 cm (91 7/8 x 91 3/4 in.)Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Gift of the Women’s Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. 1993.1.2© 2004 The Artist c/o Jack Shainman Gallery
Gulf Stream, 2003(02 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic, glitter on canvasoverall: 274.32 x 396.24 cm (108 x 156 in.)Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, T.B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2004© Kerry James Marshall
Study for Gulf Stream, 2003-2004(03 of11)
Open Image Modalgraphite, watercolor, glitter on paperoverall: 98.43 x 120.65 cm (38 3/4 x 47 1/2 in.)Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Butler Family Fund
Plunge, 1992(04 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic and collage on canvasoverall: 220.98 x 276.86 cm (87 x 109 in.)Geri and Mason Haupt© Kerry James Marshall
Study for Plunge, c.1992(05 of11)
Open Image Modalink wash on paperoverall: 45.72 x 60.96 cm (18 x 24 in.)Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, and Koplin Del Rio, CA
Great America, 1994(06 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic and collage on canvasoverall: 261.62 x 289.56 cm (103 x 114 in.)National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Collectors Committee
Bang, 1994(07 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic and collage on canvasoverall: 261.62 x 289.56 cm (103 x 114 in.)Courtesy of The Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, Ohio
Our Town, 1995(08 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic and collage on canvasoverall: 254 x 314.96 cm (100 x 124 in.)Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, ArkansasPhotography by Vancouver Art Gallery
Portrait of Nat Turner with the Head of his Master, 2011(09 of11)
Open Image Modaloil on canvasoverall: 91.44 x 74.93 cm (36 x 29 1/2 in.)Private collection
Diver, c.1992(10 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic and ink on paperoverall: 60.96 x 45.72 cm (24 x 18 in.)Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, and Koplin Del Rio, CA
Study for Visible Means of Support: Monticello, 2008(11 of11)
Open Image Modalacrylic on PVC paneloverall: 121.92 x 152.4 cm (48 x 60 in.)Rodney M. Miller Collection, courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Marshall's work "confronts the idea of the American dream from a black perspective," exhibition curator James Meyer explained during a preview. Subject matter ranges from the Middle Passage and African mythology to public-private housing and depictions of real-life African-American figures.
The exhibition adds to the diversity of the National Gallery's collection, which currently includes more than 150 works by African-American artists, according to Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art.
Marshall addressed the need for diversity in art museums in an interview with curator Meyer:
When you walk through the museum you don't have a sense that the variety of different people who made up the nation as a whole have many any real meaningful contributions to the development of this country in the ways that people talk about its greatness. And I think to finally start to bring into a place like the National Gallery somebody who does work like mine that is not always celebratory of American ideals, that has an ambivalent and at times critical relationship to the overall story, to finally start to allow that work to be seen and those narratives to be articulated, starts to fulfill the promises that the idea of the country and the founding documents set out to guide us.
Each Marshall painting is multi-layered and tells a plethora of stories through symbols, from a recurring red cross (symbolizing both aid and a literal crossroads) to the significance of water.
One of Marshall's most startling works depicts Nat Turner with the severed head of his master lying on a pillow. Turning the David-and-Goliath theme around, Marshall presents a crucial question: "Who chooses your hero for you?" Was Turner, whose slave rebellion led to more than 100 deaths, an American hero or "a psychopathic monster"?
Another piece, "Our Town," puts an African-American face on the classic Dick and Jane childhood stories. "What was your town has become our town," Marshall said of the racial transitions many American neighborhoods experienced in the past half-century.
"In the Tower: Kerry James Marshall" is on display in the National Gallery of Art's East Building Tower from June 28 to December 7.
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