An exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Kerry James Marshall (Season 1) is on view at Koplin Del Rio Gallery in Culver City, California through October 24, 2008. PORTRAITS, PIN-UPS And Wistful Romantic Idylls is Marshall’s sixth solo exhibition at the gallery.
Marshall describes the new work: “This continues my over-arching project of representing aspects of Black Culture rarely made visible in contemporary picture making. Secondarily, I am also interested in foregrounding the black figure in popular genres of painting not usually associated with the socio-political frame in which much African American art is seen through. For example, in the big coffee table book survey, The Great American Pin-Up, published by Taschen, not one of the sexy, dream girls is Black. Likewise, what are the chances of encountering a portrait (imaginary) of John Punch; Angry Black Man in any of the major museums of Los Angeles.” According to the press release, John Punch was an important figure: the first person in American history to be condemned by a State Court to a life sentence of slavery in 1646. Marshall’s John Punch; Portrait of an Angry Black Man is among the new paintings to be featured in the exhibition.