The Way of Nature: Art from Japan, China, and Korea @ Baltimore Museum of Art

The Way of Nature

Art from Japan, China, and Korea

Baltimore Museum of Art

September 21, 2025 - March 8, 2026

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) presents The Way of Nature: Art from Japan, China, and Korea, which draws on the museum’s extensive holdings to consider the importance of nature in East Asian cultures. The exhibition features more than 40 objects, from magnificent ink drawings to beautifully crafted stoneware and poignant contemporary photographs and prints. Collectively, the works reflect on nature as a vital source of creative inspiration and spiritual connection and consider human existence within the complexity of the vast natural world across centuries and into the present day. The Way of Nature: Art from Japan, China, and Korea is part of the BMA’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative, which explores the relationships between art and the environment.

“The Way of Nature offers an insightful look at the intertwining roots of artistic expression and the experience of the natural world through vibrant works from the BMA’s Asian art collection. It’s an exciting opportunity to see objects on view for the first time, or in a long time, through a lens that is both accessible and meaningful, as many of us seek connection through and to nature,” said Asma Naeem, the BMA’s Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “As the BMA focuses on expanding its collection with the work of artists from around the globe, we are excited to continue to share more of our holdings, and the stories they contain, with our community.”

The Way of Nature is organized around four overarching themes that engage with elemental aspects of the natural world and human intervention within it. The exhibition opens with a section that examines depictions, interpretations, and connections to the qualities of air, water, and stone. Among the highlights is a handmade Fireman's Coat (hikeshi banten) with Hawk and Waves (Japan, early- to mid-20th century) by an unidentified artist. The intricately sewn object depicts a hawk soaring above turbulent waves, suggesting that the firefighter who chose the design sought the protective powers of water, strength, and keen vision. During a fire, the beautiful imagery would have been worn on the interior, only to be revealed once the fire was extinguished. The section also includes works such as the evocative ink drawing Water and Mountain Landscape (China, 1955) by the artist Huang Junbi and the densely decorated wood and jade sculpture Miniature Mountain with Longevity Motifs (China, late 18th - early 19th century) by an unidentified artist. 

The second section explores the significance of the changing seasons as visual indicators of nature’s transformative power, whether in the experience of wild terrain or in meticulously tended gardens. Across East Asia, emblems of the seasons, such as plums for the spring and chrysanthemums for the fall, are both often shared within communities and widely referenced in art. A case in this section includes a range of objects featuring plum blossoms, such as the hanging scroll Plum Branch and Full Moon (Japan, 1905-1915) by Kamisaka Sekka and the stoneware Bowl Decorated with Plum Branch and Crescent Moon (China, 13th century) by an unidentified artist. The section also includes a stunning Buddhist Priest's Robe (Kesa) in Karaori with Floral Designs (Japan, 1750-1868) by an unidentified artist.

The Way of Nature continues with works that capture human intrusion into the natural realm, as artists reveal humanity’s environmental impact through both imagery of calamitous events and in more subtle and ambiguous scenes. In his series Between Mountains and Water (2014–2017), Chinese artist Zhang Kechun examined the effects of human activities on the landscape in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, while Japanese artist Leiko Shiga documented the aftermath of Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the poignant photo series Rasen Kaigan. The exhibition concludes with consideration of the spiritual transcendence that can be found in nature. This final section is anchored by the eight-panel screen Ten Symbols of Long Life (Korea, mid- to late 19th century) by an unidentified artist. The complex screen incorporates eight separate paintings to convey a wish for longevity, as embodied through such symbols as cranes, bamboo, water, and sun.

The Way of Nature: Art from Japan, China, and Korea is curated by Frances Klapthor, BMA Associate Curator of Asian Art.

BMA - BALTIMORE ART MUSEUM 

10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218

artbma.org

Lavett Ballard, Amber Robles-Gordon, Evita Tezeno @ Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park - "Solace and Sisterhood" Exhibition

Solace and Sisterhood

Lavett Ballard, Amber Robles-Gordon, Evita Tezeno

Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park

September 10 - December 10, 2025

Evita Tezeno 

True Sistahs, 2024 

Acrylic and mixed media collage on canvas, 48 × 48 in. 

Courtesy of Luis de Jesus Los Angeles and the artist

The Driskell Center announces the exhibition Solace and Sisterhood, a group exhibition featuring the work of contemporary artists Lavett Ballard, Amber Robles-Gordon, and Evita Tezeno. 

Solace and Sisterhood brings the powerful dynamic of sisterhood to the forefront by showcasing the work of three prominent Black female artists: Lavett Ballard, Amber Robles-Gordon, and Evita Tezeno. Curated by Dr. Lauren Davidson, this exhibit explores the depth of Black sisterhood, highlighting the strength, resilience, and bond that unites these women, both individually and as a collective.

Through their artwork, Ballard, Robles-Gordon, and Tezeno invite viewers into their personal and shared experiences, offering a window into the powerful friendships and sisterhood they have cultivated over the years. Drawing from their own histories and the broader African American and African diasporic narratives, the artists use a diverse range of media — including painting, collage, photography, and mixed media — to reflect on themes of self-identity, Black female beauty, spiritual awakening, and the impact of shared cultural traditions. Their work transcends simple categorizations, questioning conventional perceptions of Black womanhood and challenging stereotypes in both contemporary and historical contexts.

Each artist brings a unique perspective to the exhibit. Lavett Ballard's work explores themes of spiritual and cultural connection, using visual storytelling to reflect on the power of faith and the transformative nature of Black womanhood. Amber Robles-Gordon blends abstraction with personal symbolism, creating intricate and thought-provoking works that delve into the complexities of Black female identity and empowerment. Evita Tezeno's vibrant and layered collage works engage with the intersection of history, race, and Black joy, offering a reflective vision of Black womanhood that celebrates its quiet beauty and strength in the face of societal challenges.

Solace and Sisterhood has been guest curated by Dr. Lauren Davidson, an independent curator and scholar, who notes, “Sisterhood is more than a familial bond — it’s a vital, necessary force for survival and affirmation in the lives of Black women. The work of these three artists goes beyond mere friendship and becomes a manifestation of this sisterhood: a way to reframe narratives, challenge societal expectations, and assert our rightful place in the world.” Works in this exhibition have been generously loaned by the artists, private collectors, Luis De Jesus Los Angeles Gallery, and Morton Fine Art, L.L.C. has been guest curated by Dr. Lauren Davidson, an independent curator and scholar, who notes, “Sisterhood is more than a familial bond — it’s a vital, necessary force for survival and affirmation in the lives of Black women. The work of these three artists goes beyond mere friendship and becomes a manifestation of this sisterhood: a way to reframe narratives, challenge societal expectations, and assert our rightful place in the world.” Works in this exhibition have been generously loaned by the artists, private collectors, Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, and Morton Fine Art, L.L.C. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication — available for free — with essays by the curator and Dr. Jordana Saggese, as well as full-color images of the works. This exhibition was originally organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, VA, and is supported in part by the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) and the University of Maryland's Arts for All initiative. It is part of the NEXTNow Fest.

ARTIST LAVETT BALLARD

b. 1970, East Orange, NJ

Lives and works in Willingboro, NJ

Lavett Ballard’s work is in public and private collections, including the US Embassy in Kambala, Uganda, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, Stockton University Art Collection and the collections of ABC Studios, CBS Studios, and NBC/Universal Studios. Ballard created two commissioned covers for TimeMagazine: one in March 2020 for the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage and a second in February 2023 to accompany Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s essay about her book CASTE: Origins of our Discontent.

Lavett Ballard holds a BA in Studio Art and Art History from Rutgers University and an MFA from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia and is an adjunct professor at Rowan College of South Jersey. Ballard is represented by Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore.

ARTIST AMBER ROBLES-GORDON

b. 1977, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Lives and works in Washington, DC

Amber Robles-Gordon is an Afro-Latina interdisciplinary visual artist whose creations are visual representations of her hybridism: a fusion of her gender, ethnicity, cultural, and social experiences. Her assemblages, large sculptures, installations, and public artwork, emphasize the essentialness of spirituality and temporality within life.

Robles-Gordon’s work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the American University Museum (Washington, DC), Morton Fine Art (Washington, DC), Derek Eller Gallery (New York, NY), and the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (Pittsburgh, PA), among other venues, and in group exhibitions across the United States and internationally. She was a resident at the American Academy in Rome in 2019 and a semi-finalist for the Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize in 2022. She holds an MFA from Howard University and a BS from Trinity College.

ARTIST EVITA TEZENO

b. 1960, Port Arthur, TX

Lives and works in Dallas, TX

Evita Tezeno’s collage paintings employ richly patterned hand-painted papers and found objects. They depict a cast of characters in harmonious scenes inspired by her family and friends, childhood memories in South Texas, personal dreams, and moments from her adult life and influenced by the great 20th century modernists Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, and William H. Johnson.

Tezeno’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Pérez Art Museum (Miami, FL), the Dallas Museum of Art, African American Museum of Dallas, Figge Art Museum (Davenport, IA) Embassy of the Republic of Madagascar; and Pizzuti Collection (Columbus, OH) among many others. She is the recipient of a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and, in 2012, the Elizabeth Catlett Award for the New Power Generation. She is represented by Luis de Jesus Los Angeles.

CURATOR LAUREN DAVIDSON

Dr. Lauren Davidson is an independent art curator and founder of Museum Nectar Art Consultancy, L.L.C. Her research interests include Black cultural aesthetic theory, visual culture, and the influence of place and geographical migration throughout the African Diaspora. Recent curatorial projects include Collecting Community:Millenium Arts Salon at 25 (co-curated with Jarvis Dubois), Chosen Family, The Ties That Bind and Zero Dollar Bill: The Prints of Imar Lyman (co-curated with Jarvis Dubois), and Bria Edwards: More Time in A Day.

DRISKELL CENTER

The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora

University of Maryland - College of Arts & Humanities

1214 Cole Student Activities Building, College Park, MD 20742

driskellcenter.umd.edu

Future Histories: New Acquisitions at The Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park

Future Histories: 

New Acquisitions at The Driskell Center

University of Maryland, College Park

February 10 - May 9, 2025

DEBORAH ROBERTS 

Keeping Watch, 2019

Mixed media, 20.5 x 9.75 in. 

The Driskell Center, University of Maryland. 

Gift of Deborah Roberts/ Purchased with funds from 

the C. Sylvia & Eddie Brown Arts Acquisition Fund

The Driskell Center at the University of Maryland presents “Future Histories: New Acquisitions at The Driskell Center,” an exhibition celebrating the dynamic growth and remarkable depth of the center’s art collections, archives and library.

Since its founding, The Driskell Center has expanded its holdings to become an invaluable resource for understanding African American and African diasporic art. Visitors can experience the diversity and breadth of Black art represented by The Driskell Center’s vast permanent collections and see artworks and other materials that might otherwise be in long-term storage. This exhibition highlights materials acquired between 2018 and the fall of 2024, including books, archival materials and nearly 45 artworks on display here for the first time. But the exhibition’s organizers, Assistant Director of Exhibitions & Programs Abby Eron and Director Jordana Moore Saggese, also say this exhibition is an opportunity to think about the role that collections of Black art, particularly in a public university, play in creating a cultural history that will be accessible to future generations. As described by Jordana Moore Saggese, “‘Future Histories’ is an exploration of the past, present and future of Black art.” 

As part of “Future Histories,” The Driskell Center invites the community to shape its future collection through a unique engagement initiative. Thanks to a partnership with Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore, Md.), visitors will have the opportunity to vote on the next artwork to be acquired by The Driskell Center. This democratic approach reinforces the center’s commitment to community involvement and its mission of creating a history reflective of shared values and diverse voices.

The exhibition is curated by Abby Eron and Jordana Moore Saggese with design and installation by Korey Richardson and with curatorial assistance from Graduate Assistant JooHee Kim.

Featured Artists

Ernesto Benítez, Milton Bowens, Margaret Burroughs, Selma Burke, Charles Burwell, Elizabeth Catlett, Zoë Charlton, Sonya Clark, Floyd Coleman, Tim Davis, David C. Driskell, Herbert Gentry, Vanessa German, Jerrell Gibbs, Paul Goodnight, LaToya M. Hobbs, robin holder, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Fabiola Jean-Louis, Hew Locke, Whitfield Lovell, Cássio Markowski, Delita Martin, E.J. Montgomery, Betty Murchison, Megan Lewis, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Jefferson Pinder, Michael B. Platt, James Earl Reid, Korey Richardson, Deborah Roberts, Amber Robles-Gordon, Shinique Smith, Gilda Snowden, Hank Willis Thomas, Joyce Wellman, Deborah Willis

DRISKELL CENTER

The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora

University of Maryland - College of Arts & Humanities

1214 Cole Student Activities Building, College Park, MD 20742

driskellcenter.umd.edu

Matsumi Kanemitsu @ Baltimore Museum of Art - Figure and Fantasy

Matsumi Kanemitsu: Figure and Fantasy 

Baltimore Museum of Art 

May 14 - October 8, 2023 

Matsumi Kanemitsu 

Fish in a Pond. 1949 

The Baltimore Museum of Art: 

Bequest of J. Blankfard Martenet 2012.711.22

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will present Matsumi Kanemitsu: Figure and Fantasy, an exhibition of 60 works by the American artist created during and shortly after the artist’s residence in Baltimore, including rarely and never-before-seen paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Over the course of his life, Matsumi Kanemitsu (1922-1992) created a remarkable body of work that blended reflections on personal experience with imaginative fantasy. While he worked across media, he is most recognized for the evocative ink drawings and prints that he created after becoming associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. The BMA’s exhibition emphasizes the depth and range of the early, largely figurative drawings created during a pivotal moment in the artist’s career when he was living in Baltimore in the late 1940s, before his association with the New York School. The BMA hosted the artist’s first museum exhibition in 1954, and seven decades later, it is introducing new audiences to the artist’s work in the Stanley Mazaroff and Nancy Dorman Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings and Photographs. 

“Matsumi Kanemitsu is an important second-generation Abstract Expressionist and one of the most talented draftsmen of the 20th century. While he was affiliated with both the New York and Los Angeles art communities, Figure and Fantasy provides an opportunity to explore the artist’s little known, but highly influential time in Baltimore, and reveals how his years in our city helped establish his artistic voice,” said Asma Naeem, the BMA’s Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “The exhibition also advances our knowledge beyond the small circle of well-recognized names to capture a deeper and truer history of Post-War American art.”

Figure and Fantasy is organized thematically to highlight the ways in which Matsumi Kanemitsu’s period of self-reflection in Baltimore following World War II established the trajectory of his career. The exhibition is drawn exclusively from gifts made by J. Blankfard Martenet (1898–1957), a Baltimore collector who befriended Matsumi Kanemitsu and was instrumental in launching his career. These rarely seen works capture the artist’s distinct synthesis of eastern and western aesthetics and poignant expressions of his lived experiences—his boyhood in Japan, his fascination with the humble aspects of daily life, his dual experience as both an enlisted U.S. soldier and a prisoner of the U.S. military, and portraits of those who formed his community in Baltimore. The exhibition also explores the significance of the relationship between artist and patron, and the ways in which Martenet’s commitment to the artist has led to the preservation of a critical part of his work and career.

Matsumi Kanemitsu - Short Biography

Matsumi Kanemitsu (b. Ogden, UT 1922; d. Los Angeles, CA 1992) was born to Japanese immigrants in Utah. At an early age, his parents sent him to live with his grandparents outside of Hiroshima. His childhood in Japan would later inspire his interest and engagement with emotive depictions of flora and fauna reminiscent of the country’s landscapes. He returned to the United States in 1940 and enlisted in the U.S. Army prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Despite his American citizenship, his Japanese heritage led to his detention and confinement. Matsumi Kanemitsu’s time in the Army intensified his experience of living between two worlds, an emotional and psychological toll that would influence his work as an artist. Yet, his service provided opportunities to live in Europe, where he became immersed in the arts, visiting museums and connecting with other artists, including Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

After being discharged from the Army, Matsumi Kanemitsu moved to Baltimore, where he worked at the Bethlehem Steel shipyards and studied masonry and bricklaying. While he had begun creating oil portraits and pen and ink drawings during his service, his years in Baltimore were marked by a concentrated dedication to his artistic practice. During this time, he studied art informally with Karl Metzler and focused his attention on the study of the human body. While his work from the late 1940s and early 1950s retained strong elements of figuration, Kanemitsu often juxtaposed different styles into one work and experimented with painterly abstraction, developing a visual vocabulary entirely his own.

It was also during this period that he met J. Blankfard Martenet, an avid collector of the artist’s drawings who donated his collection to the BMA in 1957. Thanks in part to Martenet’s patronage, Kanemitsu’s first professional successes were achieved in Baltimore. He was featured in regional artist invitationals, winning a prize at the Peale Museum’s 1952 Life in Baltimore Twelfth Annual Painting Show, and receiving his first solo museum exhibition at the BMA in 1954. Matsumi Kanemitsu would later move to New York and then Los Angeles, becoming a prominent member of noted art world circles and taking on prestigious teaching roles. Starting in the mid-1950s, following his time in Baltimore, he fully embraced abstraction in his practice, and it is this that is most readily recognized.

This exhibition is curated by Leslie Cozzi, BMA Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs.

Baltimore Museum of Art

10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218

artbma.org

Generations: A History of Black Abstract Art @ Baltimore Museum of Art

Generations: A History of Black Abstract Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
September 29, 2019 - January 19, 2020

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) presents Generations: A History of Black Abstract Art, an exhibition that captures the significant contributions that black artists have made to the development of abstraction from the 1940s to the present. Generations explores the multifaceted power of abstract art as experimental practice, personal exploration, and profound political choice for decades of black artists. The exhibition features nearly 80 paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media installations by such notable artists as Kevin Beasley, Mark Bradford, Jennie C. Jones, Norman Lewis, Lorna Simpson, Alma W. Thomas, and Sam Gilliam. Generations is curated by Christopher Bedford, BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director, and Katy Siegel, BMA Senior Research & Programming Curator and Thaw Chair of Modern Art at Stony Brook University. The exhibition is co-organized by the BMA and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

Drawing on the extensive collection of Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida, which is recognized for its unparalleled holdings of works by historic and contemporary black artists, Generations builds on the previously touring Solidary & Solitary exhibition, doubling the show’s scale and scope in the BMA’s expansive galleries with new works from The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection, as well as select objects from the museum’s contemporary collection. The exhibition highlights unexpected resonances and important distinctions between artists, across time and geographic contexts. In addition to solo presentations of work by Norman Lewis, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, and Charles Gaines, Generations provides visitors with in-depth explorations of the work of Alma W. Thomas and Jack Whitten, as well as a broader selection of “duets” that juxtapose works between such artists as Gary Simmons and Lorna Simpson, Melvin Edwards and Leonardo Drew, and Kevin Beasley and Shinique Smith. These pairings are supported by expanded thematic groupings that emphasize the origins and futures of the genre, featuring landmark work by Frank Bowling, Al Loving, Julie Mehretu, Joe Overstreet, and Virginia Jaramillo.

“We find ourselves today in an important moment of cultural reckoning—one in which it is imperative for institutions like the BMA to re-examine the histories of art and to tell a truer and more multidimensional story. In working with the visionary Joyner/Giuffrida Collection, as well as the BMA’s own growing collection, we have an extraordinary opportunity to expand perceptions of what contemporary art was and can be, and celebrate the spectrum and brilliance of artists who have redefined and given depth to abstract art into the present day,” said Siegel. “With this expanded version of the exhibition, we are excited to dive deeper into the material dialogues within and across the work of the featured artists, introducing new audiences to their visions and practices.”

The opening of Generations follows the BMA’s re-conceptualization of its contemporary galleries, in a presentation titled Every Day: Selections from the Collection. The reinstallation highlights major works (and several new acquisitions) by such visionary artists as Howardena Pindell, David Hammons, Kara Walker, Nari Ward, and Jack Whitten, locating black artistic achievement at the center of a thematic overview of modern and contemporary art. This initiative underscores the BMA’s commitment to collecting and presenting the work of artists that have typically been underrepresented in major institutions and exhibitions.

“The presentation of Generations is part of a broader vision to reshape the idea of the museum—who it belongs to and whom it represents. This effort occurs across our special exhibitions, collecting, and public programs. In this way, we can recognize historical shortcomings, and provide our audiences with a richer, more vibrant, and dynamic picture of art—one that speaks to different communities, perspectives, and realities,” said Christopher Bedford, BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “We are very much looking forward to our upcoming exhibitions and to the important conversations they may spur.”

The companion publication, Four Generations: The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art, is also being expanded and reprinted by Gregory R. Miller & Co. It is edited by Courtney J. Martin, Director of the Yale Center for British Art, and features new research and writing from curators at some of the world’s leading institutions.

Generations: A History of Black Abstract Art is presented by The Helis Foundation and organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Contributing sponsorship is provided by The Lambent Foundation and The Holt Family Foundation. The presentation in Baltimore is generously sponsored by The Alvin and Fanny B. Thalheimer Exhibition Endowment Fund, Ford Foundation, Bank of America, and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.

BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218
www.artbma.org

Kerry James Marshall, Baltimore Museum of Art - One True Thing, Meditations on Black Aesthetics

Kerry James Marshall: One True Thing, Meditations on Black Aesthetics
Baltimore Museum of Art
June 20 - September 5, 2004

The Baltimore Museum of Art presents a major exhibition of new work by nationally acclaimed artist Kerry James Marshall. Kerry James Marshall: One True Thing, Meditations on Black Aesthetics examines black history, identity, and cultural tradition through more than 40 works, including paintings, sculpture, photography, installation, and video. 

A painter, photographer, printmaker, and installation artist, Kerry James Marshall’s remarkable talent has earned him a coveted MacArthur Fellow “genius” award. Best known for large-scale paintings that reflect his engagement with social history, the civil rights movement, and his experiences as an African American, Marshall is represented in more than 30 public collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art, San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art, and The Baltimore Museum of Art.

“We are delighted to bring this highly regarded artist to Baltimore,” said BMA Director Doreen Bolger. “Kerry James Marshall is an important voice in the African-American community, and these are some of his most powerful works to date.”

Kerry James Marshall: One True Thing, Meditations on Black Aesthetics represents a new direction in Marshall’s work in which he opens a dialogue on the issue of black aesthetics, the practice of being an artist, the question of integration versus assimilation, and notions of race.

“You can’t be born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1955, and grow up in South Central [Los Angeles] near the Black Panthers headquarters, and not feel like you’ve got some kind of social responsibility,” said Kerry James Marshall. “You can’t move to Watts in 1963 and not speak about it. That determined a lot of where my work was going to go.”

The term black aesthetics first emerged within the 1960s civil rights and Black Power movements as a way to raise awareness for black rights, foster black cultural pride, and develop strategies for African Americans to participate more actively in the mainstream of U.S. society. Throughout this exhibition, Kerry James Marshall has drawn upon the dense and unique layering of language, music, and art characteristic of black expression to infuse Western art-historical styles with the political and social realities of the African-American experience.

Examples of works in the exhibition include:

- Memento #5, a glittery 9- by 13-foot canvas commemorating heroes of the civil rights movement Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Robert Kennedy.

- 7 am Sunday Morning, a monumental 10- by 18-foot painting depicting a street scene on the South Side of Chicago interrupted by the prismatic glare of the sun.

- Garden Party, a four-minute DVD and corresponding painting that reinterprets Impressionist works like Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party with African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics enjoying a backyard gathering.

- The Ladder of Success, an installation of colorful Plexiglass boxes each listing a traditional western virtue—including honesty and punctuality—and principles of the African-American celebration of Kwanzaa, such as creativity and faith.

- Africa Restored, a three-part work that presents the continent as a vast sculpture adorned with medallions that pay homage to Africa as a source of creative inspiration.

- Dailies, a continuation of the artist’s RYTHM MASTR comic series that pits an urban superhero against the Chicago Housing Authority using a combination of futuristic and traditional African accoutrements.

Kerry James Marshall was born in 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Los Angeles. He lives in Chicago where he has been a professor since 1993 at the School of Art and Design and the University of Illinois, Chicago. He received his BFA from the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1978 and an honorary doctorate in 1999. In 1997 Marshall was awarded the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. Kerry James Marshall's work has been included in such group exhibitions as the 2003 Venice Biennale; the 1999/2000 Carnegie International; the 1997 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; and documenta X in Kassel, Germany, in 1997. In 1998, Marshall's work was the subject of a major exhibition organized by the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago that traveled to such venues as the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston. He was an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1985. He recently completed a seven-week residency at The University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to his painting career, Kerry James Marshall has been the production designer for the films Daughters of the Dust and Praise House directed by Julie Dash, Sankofa directed by Haile Gerima, and Hendrix Project directed by Arthur Jafa. He is married to the actress Cheryl Lynn Bruce.

Kerry James Marshall will also curate an exhibition at Artscape, Baltimore’s premier arts festival. Kerry James Marshall will select six Baltimore-area artists from open submissions, and he will invite six artists from his hometown of Chicago to participate in Baltimore/Chicago Show, on display June 20–July 31 at the Decker Gallery in the Station Building at the Maryland Institute College of Art. The Artscape festival runs July 16-July 18.

Kerry James Marshall: One True Thing, Meditations on Black Aesthetics was organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and curated by Elizabeth Smith, James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator, with Tricia Van Eck, Curatorial Coordinator. Major support for the exhibition is provided by the Harris Family Foundation in honor of Bette and Neison Harris. Additional support is provided by The Joyce Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Peter Norton Family Foundation, The Boeing Company, and Loop Capital Markets.

In Baltimore, the exhibition is curated by Chris Gilbert, BMA Curator of Contemporary Art.

A 104-page full-color catalogue accompanies the exhibition. “Kerry James Marshall: One True Thing, Meditations on Black Aesthetics” is available.

The exhibition originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and traveled to the Miami Art Museum before coming to the BMA. It will go on to the Studio Museum in Harlem (October 13, 2004-January 9, 2005) and the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama (February 3-April 24, 2005).

BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218
www.artbma.org

Updated 13.07.2019