Kerry James Marshall Paints Big

June 19, 2017

Home » Commentary » Kerry James Marshall Paints Big

Skin

Portrait of the Artist & a Vacuum, 1981

my black ass smiles a missing tooth over a vacuum i never use

Self-Portrait of the Artist as a Super Model, 1994

photographers ignore my face until i bury it in dirty blond hair

When Frustration Threatens Desire, 1990

black cat black snake black glove black magician take me somewhere else

The Land That Time Forgot, 1992

one two three four arrows pierce my horny neck and body amid lively dead flowers

Untitled (Painter), 2009

why am i a somber black woman painting myself by numbers

Invisible Man, 1986

i’m not invisible only black on dark white history brightened by eyes and teeth

Untitled, 2008

i’ve got a big many colored palette but mostly i paint it black

Untitled, 2009

how’m i supposed to paint my black face using white

Portrait of Nat Turner with the Head of his Master, 2011

master’s much nicer when his head’s severed on the bed

Campfire Girls, 1995

we can’t get in the tent but huddle in blankets before campfire darkening our faces

Brownie – Scout (Girl) – Cub Scout – Scout (Boy), all 1995

lightning reveals dusky faces in uniforms brown green and blue

De Style, 1993

i’ll make your hair a tower an afro anything you want looking cool

School of Beauty, School of Culture, 2012

matriculation to this elite school requires big booties and exotic hair

Bang, 1994

n fourth of july i pledge allegiance to red white and bang

Souvenir 1, 1997

with golden wings i maintain flowers forever fresh for martin and other angels

Romance

Slow Dance, 1992-93

morose intimate and slow we dance

They Know That I Know, 1992

hurry up and get undressed

Could This Be Love, 1992

don’t know if it’s love but i love her flesh under green blanket

Untitled, 2008

white birds black birds big birds soothe seaside sunset for lovers

Vignette, 2003

free as butterflies and birds we lope through nature

Untitled (Beach Towel), 2014

you like my white bra turquoise panties and black skin pushing lips full for you

Untitled (Club Couple), 2014

drinks aglow and hands interlaced we nuzzle in style

Frankenstein – Mrs. Frankenstein, both 2009

get ready frankenstein the missus wants you now

Society

Gulf Stream, 2003

on turquoise beneath gliding birds we sail on shenana

Untitled (Altegeld Gardens), 1995

we got more than two hundred buildings almost two thousand units and lots of desperate people

Our Town, 1995

inside white picket fence our kids and bicycles about like yours

Past Times, 1997

on weekends we golf play croquet captain sailboats and waterski in white bikinis

C.H.I.A., 1994

in white shirts and black ties we rake and garden to welcome you to our eight bldgs and
sixteen hundred units

Untitled (Mirror Girl), 2014

you keep posting bills on my door but all i got is a big tit in each hand

7 a.m. Saturday Morning, 2003

this side of street they waitin for the liquor store to open that side they goin someplace
special

Notes: Kerry James Marshall: Mastry appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles from March 12 to July 3, 2017

Posted in , , ,

George Thomas Clark

George Thomas Clark is the author of Hitler Here, a biographical novel published in India and the Czech Republic as well as the United States. His commentaries for GeorgeThomasClark.com are read in more than 50 countries a month.

Recent Commentary

Cole Hocker Sprints to Gold in Paris

Man on Roof with a Rifle

Tee Time

Another Great Catch for Willie Mays

Political Satire for Progressives

Books

HITLER HERE is a well researched and lyrically written biographical novel offering first-person stories by the Fuehrer and a variety of other characters. This intimate approach invites the reader to peer into Hitler’s mind, talk to Eva Braun, joust with Goering, Goebbels, and Himmler, debate with the generals, fight on land and at sea and…
See More →
Art history and fiction merge to reveal the lives and emotions of great painters Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, William H. Johnson, Lee Krasner, and many others.
See More →
This fast-moving collection blends fiction and movie history to illuminate the stimulating lives and careers of noted actors, actresses, and directors. Stars of this book include Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, and Spike Lee.
See More →
In this collection of thirty-eight chiseled short stories, George Thomas Clark introduces readers to actors, alcoholics, addicts, writers famous and unknown, a general, a lovelorn farmer, a family besieged by cancer, extraterrestrials threatening the world, a couple time traveling back to a critical battle, a deranged husband chasing his wife, and many more memorable people…
See More →
Anne Frank On Tour and Other Stories
This lively collection offers literary short stories founded on History, Love, Need, Excess, and Final Acts.
See More →
In lucid prose author George Thomas Clark recalls the challenges of growing up in a family beset by divorce, depression, and alcoholism, and battling similar problems as an adult.
See More →
Let’s invite many of the greatest boxers and their contemporaries to tell their own stories, some true, others tales based on history. The result is a fascinating look into the lives and battles of those who thrilled millions but often ruined themselves while so doing.
See More →
In a rousing trip through the worlds of basketball and football, George Thomas Clark explores the professional basketball league in Mexico, the Herculean talents of Wilt Chamberlain, the artistry of LeBron James, the brilliance of Bill Walsh, and lots more. Half the stories are nonfiction and others are satirical pieces guided by the unwavering hand of an inspired storyteller.
See More →
Get on board this collection of satirical stories, based on news, about the entertaining but absurd and often quite dangerous events following the election of President Donald J. Trump in November 2016 until January 6, 2021, shortly after his loss to Joe Biden.
See More →
Join Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and other notables on a raucous ride into a fictional world infused with facts from one of the roughest political races in modern U.S. history.
See More →
History and literary fiction enliven the Barack Obama phenomenon from the African roots of his father and grandfather to the United States where young Obama struggles to control vices and establish his racial identity. Soon, the young politician is soaring but under fire from a variety of adversaries including Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh.
See More →
These satirical columns allow startlingly candid Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush to explain their need to control the destinies of countries, regions, and, ultimately, the world. Osama bin Laden, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Karl Rove, and other notables, not all famous, also demand part of the stage.
See More →
Where Will We Sleep
Determined to learn more about those who fate did not favor, the author toured tattered, handmade refuges of those without homes and interviewed them on the streets and in homeless shelters, and conversed with the poor in the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, and Spain, and on occasion wrote composite stories to illuminate their difficult lives.
See More →
In search of stimulating stories, the author interviewed prostitutes in Madrid, Mexico City, Havana, and Managua and on many boulevards in the United States, and he talked to detectives and rode the rough roads of social workers who deal with human trafficking, which is contemporary slavery, and sometimes used several lives to create stories, and everywhere he ventured he witnessed struggles of those whose lives are bound In Other Hands.
See More →
In compressed language Clark presents a compilation of short stories and creative columns about relationships between men and women.
See More →
Political Satire for Progressives
Available now in a single digital-only volume of four books: Echoes from Saddam Hussein, Obama on Edge, King Donald, and Down Goes Trump. In his signature style, George Thomas Clark combines satire and creative writing to illuminate many historic developments this century. Echoes from Saddam Hussein – Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush candidly explain their need to control the…
See More →