Kerry James Marshall: Blackness, that's it

Kerry James Marshall, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self,” 1980. 

With a deliberately monotone palette, Kerry James Marshall addresses what it means to be black in the United States in creating a new narrative of self-portraiture. Classically, when we think of self-portraits, we often see images of Van Gogh’s obvious brushstroke and an eye-catching color palette which somehow reads optimistically, despite Van Gogh’s emotional struggles. Kerry James Marshall works to break down this stereotype by painting a portrait that is nearly all black. All we see of the artist are his eyes and a wide, gap-toothed smile shining bright in the darkness, almost eerily. He uses stereotypical imagery of black Americans in order to confront the audience – he is challenging us to really look at him. He is a black man in the United States, and that means that he is defined not by his facial features but by the color of his skin. We know that he is human because of his smile and his eyes, but not because of any defined features. He is an outline, almost invisible in the darkness. 

In terms of race as a performance, Kerry James Marshall asks his viewers to destroy the notion of race as the principle feature of a man's identity. He uses it to make us uncomfortable. His smile is forced - it's wide and present, but it is almost a provocative gesture. He bares his teeth as if to challenge his viewer. His eyes glow in the darkness. The image is eerie because the artist looks straight through his viewer, as if he is well aware of his mask. This image follows the same vein of images like the Aunt Jemima which might read happily at first, but upon further examination it's obvious that the smile plastered on is a matter of self-preservation, and it could be hiding anger.