“This person is going to influence the world”

2010s Artists Directors Exhibitions Global

Madeleine Grynsztejn recalls an early visit to the studio of Kerry James Marshall.

I remember when our local star Kerry James Marshall was not such a star, and I paid him a very early studio visit in his career. This was back in the early nineties. And I will never forget walking into his studio and I said to myself, "This is art history. This person is going to influence the world." And sure enough, I consider the MCA to be a humble and glad and appropriate recipient of his agreement to do a retrospective, which has gone on to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. And Kerry's work is the work that we need right now at this point in time when we are struggling with so many issues around race, around gender, and around difference and around respect for difference. There are moments when you need a certain work of art at a certain time, and Kerry's work is what we need right now.

Installation view, Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, MCA Chicago, Apr 23–Sep 25, 2016. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Installation view, Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, MCA Chicago, Apr 23–Sep 25, 2016. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Installation view, Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, MCA Chicago, Apr 23–Sep 25, 2016. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Installation view, Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, MCA Chicago, Apr 23–Sep 25, 2016. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Installation view, Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, MCA Chicago, Apr 23–Sep 25, 2016. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Installation view, Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, MCA Chicago, Apr 23–Sep 25, 2016. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Painter), 2009. Acrylic on PVC; 44 5/8 x 43 1/8 x 3 7/8 in. (113.4 x 109.5 x 9.8 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Katherine S. Schamberg by exchange, 2009.15. © 2009 Kerry James Marshall. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Painter), 2009. Acrylic on PVC; 44 5/8 x 43 1/8 x 3 7/8 in. (113.4 x 109.5 x 9.8 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Katherine S. Schamberg by exchange, 2009.15. © 2009 Kerry James Marshall. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

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