In this the third part of David and Harry's trip to the Royal Academy of Arts they look at two more of Kerry James Marshalls work.

Beyond painting, Marshall works in drawing, printmaking, collage, and installation. His graphic works often explore similar themes but with a sharper emphasis on line, symbolism, and mass-media aesthetics. Across all media, his practice is underpinned by rigorous research into art history, Black cultural history, and critical theory. Marshall has frequently spoken about the responsibility of artists to understand the traditions they inherit—and to intervene in them thoughtfully. As a teacher, lecturer, and public intellectual, he has shaped conversations about representation, value, and power in the art world. By combining technical mastery with conceptual clarity, Marshall has reshaped contemporary painting and expanded the possibilities of what historical art can be—and whom it can serve.

Content and creative lead: David Johnson and Harry Baxter

Producer: Ian Rattray

Audio production: Clear Voice Enterprises

Our thanks to the Royal Academy of Arts for allowing the recording of this episode of Reading Paintings.

In this second part of three episodes, David and Harry continue to explore the work of Kerry James Marshall at the Royal Academy of Arts .

Kerry James Marshall is best known for large-scale figurative paintings that place Black subjects at the centre of scenes traditionally reserved for white figures in European and American art history. His figures are often painted in a deep, opaque black, a deliberate aesthetic and conceptual choice. By pushing blackness to an extreme, Marshall challenges assumptions about beauty, representation, and visibility, forcing viewers to confront how race operates visually and ideologically within his paintings. Text frequently appears in Marshall’s work, guiding interpretation while complicating meaning. His use of language underscores his belief that images and words together shape historical memory.

Content and creative lead: David Johnson and Harry Baxter

Producer: Ian Rattray

Audio production: Clear Voice Enterprises

Our thanks to the Royal Academy of Arts for allowing the recording of this episode of the Reading Paintings podcast.

This month David and Harry visit the Kerry James Marshall, The Histories exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London. This is the first of 3 parts exploring the artist’s work.

Kerry James Marshall is one of the most influential contemporary painters working today, renowned for a practice that confronts the historical absence of Black figures from Western art. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1955 and raised in Los Angeles, Marshall came of age during the civil rights movement. This social and political context profoundly shaped his understanding of art as a tool for cultural visibility, historical correction, and political agency. A defining feature of Marshall’s practice is his sustained engagement with the canon of Western art. He draws on the compositional strategies, formats, and genres of Old Master paintings, while reworking them to include Black subjects who were historically excluded.

Creative lead and contents: David Johnson and Harry Baxter

Producer: Ian Rattray

Audio production: Clear Voice Enterprises

Our thanks to the Royal Academy of Arts for allowing the recording of this episode of the Reading Paintings Podcast.