Kerry James Marshall : the histories

Exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, 18 September 2026 – 24 January 2027

Regarded as one of the most influential contemporary painters, Kerry James Marshall (1955–) creates monumental compositions in which the everyday lives of Black people take on an epic dimension. By placing these figures within the archetypes of art history from which they were excluded, he questions their absence and affirms their place in history.

His work evokes the forced journey of enslaved Africans to the Americas and the legacy of Black American movements, from the civil rights movement to Black Power, without resorting to the direct depiction of violence. Drawing on history, 19th-century French painting, contemporary culture, Afrofuturism and science fiction, his work spans painting, printmaking, drawing and sculpture.

Produced in collaboration with the artist, this catalogue of the first exhibition in France dedicated to Kerry James Marshall traces more than four decades of creative output through series of works drawn from public and private collections in Europe and North America. It brings together 70 works, including eight previously unseen paintings created specifically for the exhibition.