More about the Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, his retrospective at the Royal Academy in London.
Note the multiple techniques used in Terra Incognita and Baptist, both from 1992. Evoking the Middle Passage, Marshall weaves in references to African and American history, as in Great America (see my previous post).
Here is the barbershop once more dense with visual references. Love, pride and humour are all adjectives that came to mind for these paintings.
The hairstyle and pot plant for example.
Marshall often refers to the European Grand Master painting tradition in his group settings. The beauty parlour has an obvious reference to Holbein’s The Ambassadors while
Untitled (club scene) echoes the pose of the barmaid in Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
I liked this picture, Untitled (Blanket Couple) as it feels a bit less loaded, almost a snapshot of a relaxed couple on a sunny afternoon.
