Kerry James Marshall
(c)image: Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, and Koplin Del Rio, CA
Untitled (Club Scene), 2013
In Untitled (Club Scene) (2013) Marshall presents us with an empty nightclub. It his reaction against the usual way that black musicians are portrayed.
In contrast to the visual arts, music counts many leading black figures. The most innovative actors in blues, gospel, jazz, ragtime, soul, reggae and rap are all black.
The black music scene is nearly always presented as a single black musician at the center, like as a jazz performer or blues singer. In his work, however, Marshall shifts the focus to the broader idea of "black music as an institution". He shows the club as a stage offering the possibility of performances, but without showing the performances themselves. Important here is the privilege of the idea of the stage, where innovation and creation are possible. In this way, Marshall negates the stereotypical representation of Black culture in general, and of Black music styles in particular.