July 08, 2021
Kerry James Marshall’s Vignette (Wishing Well)
by SAL McINTYRE
One of the most outstanding explorations artist Kerry James Marshall features in his racially conscious paintings is that of re-envisioning art history. A long running series of “Vignettes” depicts his own narratives within the themes and imagery of well known art historical genres, placing black subjects in the context of scenes from the famous, familiar and established settings of the canon of art history — thereby calling attention to the discrepancy in cultural norms. In keeping with his truth-wielding and ultimately inspiring message on the themes of the Black presence in America, his artistry, craftsmanship and unflinching sense of style are a shining beacon in our collective oeuvre.
Kerry James Marshall – Vignette (Wishing Well), SIGNED etching 2010
Marshall’s large scale multi-layered etching Vignette (Wishing Well) harkens back to the romantic era of Rococo, a time in the 1700s when paintings gallivanted with frivolity, light heartedness and an ideal of beauty emphasizing the pretty and the feminine. He describes an archetypal Rococo scenario involving a woman throwing coins into a wishing well and a man spying on her from behind a tree, though in Marshall’s version the black figures are intensified by the dark backgrounds surrounding them. Floral motifs and pink floating hearts follow in step with the decorative flourishes of the genre, eloquently placing this fairytale-like story within the vocabulary of works describing black culture— simultaneously throwing a spotlight on a centuries-old struggle and elevating a public perspective of black lifestyle and experience. And to crown the accomplishment, this work furthermore normalizes the presence of black subjects in the canon of art history, and in such fine fashion.
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