The condition of visibility as it relates to black people was crucial. Connected to that, I've always been interested in science fiction and horror films and was acutely aware of the political and social implications of Ralph Ellison's description of… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
There's nothing more special than intellect and labour that makes painting work. There's no magic there; it's information, and it's work. — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
When art works travel from place to place, what you have is the opportunity to engage with the intellect of another person who has… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
I stumbled upon Charles White purely by chance while looking through a book 'Great Negroes, Past and Present' in the library at Forty-Ninth Street Elementary School in South-Central Los Angeles. I was in the fifth grade. — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share
The lighter the skin, the more acceptable you are. The darker the skin, the more marginalised you become. I want to demonstrate that you… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
Artwork operates on two different levels: On one level there's artwork as a mode of expressivity, and then there's the other side, where the… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
One of the things I recognized early on, doing whatever studies of black history I have, is that even though black folks were transported as slaves, into servitude, when they were carried out of Africa they left empty-handed, but they didn't leave empty-headed. They carried with them the culture they knew, the culture they had, and that culture reconstituted itself… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share
If you walk into any magazine store, I guarantee that nine out of 10 covers will feature white, blonde, blue-eyed, slim women because that's… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
For black people who are really dark - and a lot of black people were averse to be dark skinned - it was believed… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
Before people outside of the Western European tradition started asking to be in there, the people who were accumulating objects for the museum were… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
What I hope 'Mastry' ends up doing is completely undermining or doing away with the notion that artists are a savant: that they do… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
My dream was always to be in museums. It's a big and important milestone and a fulfillment of one of my primary ambitions. — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share Image
