In his multifaceted work, Kerry James Marshall strives to address “the lack in the image bank” by elevating Black figures who have been excluded from Western art. Using a variety of black pigments, the artist heightens the skin tones of his subjects to honor their identities rather than ignore them. Best known for his large-scale paintings, Marshall also works in collage, photography, video and other media.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Marshall later grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where his family relocated in 1963. As he studied art, including at the Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design) in Los Angeles, he was struck by the absence of Black bodies in art history and museums. At the age of 25, he painted A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self (1980). Its central figure, whose features almost merge with the background in their varying shades of black, references Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the protagonist of which cannot be seen as a human being by other members of society because he is Black. For Marshall, A Portrait marked the start of an ongoing examination of the simultaneous visibility and invisibility of Black Americans.
Marshall’s practice has continued to concentrate on confronting stereotypes in the Black experience by celebrating joy and commemorating moments of Black history. His paintings frequently engage with the white-dominated traditions of the art historical canon by borrowing elements of style ranging from the Renaissance to the abstract movements of the 20th century. While he has said that he is driven by a sense of social responsibility for what he witnessed growing up in the South before the Civil Rights Act and in Los Angeles during the Watts riots of 1965, Marshall doesn’t focus on trauma in his works’ narrative scenes. Instead, they regularly depict people involved in everyday activities yet portrayed with the monumentality of a tableau painting.
Now based in Chicago, Marshall is recognized as one of the country’s leading contemporary painters, with a 2016 retrospective, "Mastry," touring the MCA Chicago, MOCA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2018, his painting Marshall’s Past Times (1997) sold for $21.1 million, the highest ever auction price for a work by a living Black artist.
Browse a collection of Kerry James Marshall’s art on 1stDibs.
Set of Six (Six) Scout Series Embroidered textile Patches brand new and sealed
By Kerry James Marshall
Located in New York, NY
KERRY JAMES MARSHALL Set of Six (Six) Scout Series Embroidered Patches, 2017 Rayon thread on poly twill backed embroidered patches, set of six. Brand new in original packaging. Large...
Textile, Mixed Media
Mr. Brainwash "Beautiful Girl" Mixed Media
By Mr. Brainwash
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Brainwash, Mr. Title: Beautiful Girl Date: 2025 Medium: Silkscreen and Mixed Media on Paper Unframed Dimensions: 20" x 16" Framed Dimensions: 26" x 22" Signature: Sign...
Mixed Media, Screen
$1,982
H 10.63 in W 8.08 in
Every Saint has a Past and Every Sinner has a Future
By The Connor Brothers
Located in London, GB
2014 Hand painted vintage paperback book with silkscreen 27 x 20.5 cm Artist Proof - Edition of 2 Framed Excellent condition The Connor Brothers, an artistic duo, are famous for the...
Paper, Silk
Spiegel
By Antje Dorn
Located in Kansas City, MO
Mixed media Year: 2009 Signed and dated by hand Size: 23.0 × 16.4 on 28.3 × 20.3 inches COA provided Solo exhibitions (selection) (K)=catalogue (B)=artist book 1992 GO -TO, WMF-Haus/Leipzigerstrasse, Berlin 1995 ÖL,ÖL,ÖL, Croxhapox, Gent, Belgium 1995 COOKIE PARK, Wiens Laden, Berlin (B) 1997 QUIT, Museumsakademie, Berlin (B) 1998 HEAVEN HAS HOLES, Boekie Woekie, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1998 QUALITY STREET, Eine Vitrine, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau (B) 1999 HEAVEN HAS HOLES, Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin 1999 0,0 TOTAL, Museum Folkwang, Essen (B) 2000 0,0 TOTAL, Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin 2001 DOSENZIMMER/BERNSTEINZIMMER (room of cans / room of amber), mit Friederike Feldmann, Galerie Station, Mousonturm, Frankfurt a. M. 2002 MOTORGIRLS, Kunstbank, Berlin 2003 MOTORGIRLS, Galerie Thomas...
Mixed Media
$1,875Sale Price|25% Off
H 17.75 in W 32.25 in D 2 in
An Atlantic City Summer (signed 3D mixed media serigraph)
By Charles Fazzino
Located in Aventura, FL
3D constructed mixed media serigraph on paper. Hand signed lower right by Charles Fazzino. Hand numbered 33/350 DX lower left. This Deluxe Edition features three layers of dimensi...
Mixed Media, Screen
$3,712Sale Price|25% Off
H 25.5 in W 16.37 in D 2 in
Point, Game, Set, Match! (signed 3D mixed media with remarque)
By Charles Fazzino
Located in Aventura, FL
3D constructed mixed media serigraph on paper. Hand signed lower right by Charles Fazzino. Hand numbered 3/100 DX lower left. This Deluxe Edition features three layers of dimensio...
Mixed Media, Screen
The Accordian Player
By Max Papart
Located in New York, NY
deluxe limited edition of 25 medium: etching, aquatint, with carborundum, collage on paper year: 1980 paper size: 58" x 38" image size: 58" x 38" (145 x 98 cm.) frame size: 65.5" x...
Mixed Media, Etching, Aquatint, Lithograph
$2,200
H 22.125 in W 14.125 in
"Listen (Dust is the Only Secret), " Mixed Media signed by Lesley Dill
By Lesley Dill
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Listen (Dust is the Only Secret)" is an original lithograph with nylon string by Lesley Dill. The artist signed the piece lower left. It depicts the silhouette of a man constructed ...
Nylon, Mixed Media, Lithograph
$3,418
H 30.32 in W 39.38 in D 0.2 in
Just Dreaming (Original) - still life, hand signed, Roy Fairchild
By Roy Fairchild
Located in London, GB
This original mixed media painting is for sale from Roy Fairchild's Personal Collection. This painting will come with a certificate of authenticity from London Contemporary Gallery a...
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
$3,712Sale Price|25% Off
H 31 in W 37 in D 2 in
Viva Las Vegas! (framed, hand signed 3D mixed media serigraph)
By Charles Fazzino
Located in Aventura, FL
3D constructed mixed media serigraph on paper. Hand signed lower right by Charles Fazzino. Hand numbered 28 AP lower left. This Artist Proof Edition features three layers of dimen...
Mixed Media, Screen
$1,800
H 23 in W 20.25 in
Woodblock Heliorelief with Hand Painting "Novel" Italian Post Modernist Pop Art
By Sandro Chia
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand Signed edition of 50 with blindstamp. Surprising Novel Woodblock and heliorelief with handpainting 18-1/2 x 16-1/4 inches (sheet alone without frame) Biography: Sandro Chia was...
Paint, Mixed Media, Woodcut
Her Dreams Abstract
Located in Soquel, CA
Vibrant and arresting "Her Dreaming" is a wonderful modern abstract expressionist lithograph print by unknown artist. Signed illegibly lower right. Numbered "36/345". Image size, 20"...
Mixed Media
Taberbacle
By Richard Meier
Located in New York, NY
Richard Meier Taberbacle, 2011 Silkscreen Collage (mix media), sheet size: 30" x 30" signed numbered dated in pencil by the artist edition of 50 Richard Meier, (b.1934) most...
Mixed Media, Screen