KERRY JAMES MARSHALL: ALONG THE WAY

25 July to 22 October 2006

Press View: Tuesday 25 July, 1-4pm.

“Prepare to be…utterly entranced.” The Observer, January 2006

Modern Art Oxford is delighted to present the first UK solo exhibition of work by artist Kerry James Marshall.

One of the most closely watched American artists of his generation, Marshall’s work is characterised by politically charged references to the Black-American experience. This exhibition presents a focused survey of his paintings from the 1980s to the present and reveals his continuing relevance to a younger generation of artists and audiences.

Marshall draws upon a wide range of sources such as African-American history, literature, films, music and comic books, western art history and classical mythology to create what has been described as “a meditation on black aesthetics”.

Marshall’s paintings erupt with an explosion of narratives and textures. His principal subject is the black figure, which he injects into the mainstream of Western painting.

At Modern Art Oxford Marshall presents major paintings including The Garden Project series, inspired by Chicago’s large-scale urban public housing projects of the 1960s and The Lost Boys, a series of portraits of young males that addresses the tragedy of gang warfare.

Kerry James Marshall, Along The Way is curated by Deborah Smith and organised by Camden Arts Centre in association with Modern Art Oxford, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and the New Art Gallery Walsall – where it toured previously.

A fully illustrated publication is available with texts by Luc Tuymans and Valerie Cassel Oliver and an interview with the artist by Deborah Smith.

Ends

For press images and information please call Sara Dewsbery on:
+44 (0)1865 813813 or email sara.dewsbery@modernartoxford.org.uk

Note to Editors
Kerry James Marshall was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1955. He was educated at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, from which he received a BFA and an honorary doctorate in 1999. He lives and works in Chicago. He has exhibited nationally and internationally in exhibitions such as Documenta X (1997), Carnegie International (1999) and Postcards from Black America: Contemporary African American Art (1998). Recent solo exhibitions have been presented by the Jack Shainman Gallery, New York (2004) and The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: One True Thing: Meditations on Black Aesthetics, touring exhibition (2003-5). In 1997 Marshall was awarded a John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation Prize.

Fivearts Cities
Five will film the opening of Kerry James Marshall: Along the Way as part of Fivearts Cities, a partnership launched in 2004 between Five and Arts Council England. For details visit www.fivetv/fiveartscities.

Press contact

For further press information and images please contact Sara Dewsbery on 01865 813813.


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