ArtisTalk: Kerry James Marshall

Kerry James Marshall, in conversation with Susan Dackerman, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints and Director of Academic Programs, Division of European and American Art, Harvard Art Museums

While known for his politically and socially informed work, Kerry James Marshall’s manipulation of art history is equally relevant. In his depictions of African American life and struggle, the artist explicitly and overtly references di?erent genres, including still life, landscape, and portraiture. His monumental 12-panel color woodcut, Untitled (1998/2007), depicting a domestic space with six African American ?gures envelops the viewer in its “life-size” proportions. His enormous print de?nes space on an architectural scale, almost literally creating a room.

Untitled is on view October 9 through December 29, 2012, in the exhibition Recent Acquisitions Part III: Kerry James Marshall at the Sackler Museum.

The ArtisTalk lecture series for 2012?13 focuses on Art in Public Space?a timely subject as the Harvard Art Museums consider the reinstallation of the enhanced 32 Quincy Street building. Speakers include contemporary artists from Latin America, Europe, and the United States whose work engages viewers in public settings of varying scale and conditions?enclosed or open, vast or intimate?and in visual practices of various means?from performance to painting, sculpture, installation, printmaking, and ?lm. The lectures will include conversations with the artists, who will discuss issues of place, scale, and performative aspects of their work, among other ideas.

A reception and open galleries will follow.

Free admission.

Limited complimentary parking at Broadway Garage, 7 Felton Street.

The ArtisTalk series was made possible in part by generous support from the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer Jr. Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums.

Re?ecting the personal and professional pursuits of the late Nancy Stephenson Nichols (Harvard AM ’77, PhD ’80), this annual lecture provides a forum for international leaders in the arts, culture, and museums to share their expertise and ideas on topics of importance in the worlds in which they work.