For black people, everything we do has to be ratified and endorsed by a power structure that is white. And that reinforces a kind of racial hierarchy where whiteness is the privileged position to be in, and ethnicity is problematic. — 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
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
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… — 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
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
One of the things I recognized early on, doing whatever studies of black history I have, is that even though black folks were transported… — 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
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
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
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
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
In [Ralph] Ellison's case, it's more psychological than it is phenomenal, and it's conditioned by anger, animosity, and lack of desire to engage with… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share
When I started, I was aware of using the black as a rhetorical device. It's understanding that black people come in a wide range… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share
No one has a right to occupy the privileged position all the time, so it should be contested. It should always be messy in… — Kerry James Marshall Copy Share
