STATUS: Current Exhibition
20 September 2025 – 18 January 2026
London’s Royal Academy of Arts is currently holding an exhibition with the largest display of works by celebrated American artist Kerry James Marshall. Coinciding with his 70th birthday, Kerry James Marshall: The Histories traverses eleven different phases of Marshall’s artistic journey, including works made specifically for this exhibition. The artist shines the spotlight on the Black American experience. Using Western painting traditions, he portrays figures and historical events that were almost completely left out of mainstream art movements.
The title refers to the histories of art, meaning the conventions and styles adopted by painters through the eras as well as their preferred subjects, which inevitably reveal their priorities and preoccupations. From the artistic trends that developed in the West, to the traditions and imagery associated with African culture, Marshall believes that a deep knowledge of ‘the histories’ is essential in order to be part of a collective artistic conversation. There’s also a focus on history in the traditional sense, more specifically on key moments in Black history, from the slave trade to the civil rights movements that Marshall himself witnessed while growing up. A large number of his works, however, zoom in on snapshots of everyday life. Whether in public spaces or intimate situations, these fleeting moments tell the stories of Black citizens within the frame of US politics and attitudes.
Among the paintings that best represent the artist’s approach is De Style (1993), which invites the viewer into a barbershop – a key hub for many Black communities and a setting that is both intimate and social. The title is a play on words referencing the Dutch modernist art movement De Stijl. Upon a closer look, one notices that the blocks of colour representing the surrounding furniture (which are red, blue, yellow, black and white) reprise Mondrian’s familiar geometrical patterns. In this way, Marshall implicitly undertakes the task of bringing Black narratives and popular art movements into the same space, in a sort of retrospective inclusion.
Most of his works are large in scale and imposing, commanding physical space. One feature that is immediately striking is that he uses actual black paint to illustrate skin (varying between, or mixing, shades like Mars Black, Carbon Black or Ivory Black). The choice to emphasise blackness makes his subjects look even more intriguing and powerful, but it’s also a clear statement. In his own words, he is “trying to establish a phenomenal presence that is unequivocally black and beautiful. […] Presence with a capital P.”
When speaking of his work, Marshall makes it clear that he does not want to influence those who view it. He believes that his paintings tend to be self-explanatory, and it’s up to the viewer to draw meanings out of them. What is clear and beyond misinterpretation is that in every context represented, even the most challenging, the people depicted radiate a quiet confidence and pride that makes the collection all the more magnetic.
For more information or to book, visit the Royal Academy website here. Main featured image: Kerry James Marshall, Untitled, 2009. Acrylic on PVC panel, 155.3 x 185.1. Yale University Art Gallery, Purchased with the Janet and Simeon Braguin Fund and a gift from Jacqueline L. Bradley, B.A. 1979. © Kerry James Marshall
Photos from the press view: Mersa Auda.
— Mersa Auda
