Kerry James Marshall
In Black Star (2011) a naked Black woman bursts through a geometric-abstract background, inspired by the style of Frank Stella’s Black Paintings, that he began in the late 1950s. The title refers to the Black Star Line shipping company, established in the early 20th Century by Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and a leading campaigner of the Pan-African movement.
The Black Star Line was originally conceived as a means for giving African-Americans the opportunity to return to Africa if they so wished, and was also important in trans-Atlantic commerce. The company possessed three steamships that sailed between the USA, the Caribbean, Central America and Africa, providing for this travel and trade. As an economically independent corporation, it stood as a symbol for black emancipation.