Kerry James Marshall's retrospective Mastry redefines Black representation in art

Kerry James Marshall's sweeping retrospective Mastry, which opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2016 before traveling to the Met Breuer and MOCA Los Angeles, established him as one of the most important living American painters. Marshall's monumental figurative works depicting Black people in everyday scenes — with deep, rich black skin tones rendered with extraordinary care — fundamentally challenged the whiteness of Western art history and the canon of figure painting.