A long-time resident of Chicago, Kerry James Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest painters of his generation. Strongly influenced by his experiences as a young man, Marshall developed a signature style as an artist, centring on the life and history of the black subject. His now-substantial body of work offers his perspective on the complexity of the African-American condition, along with its persistent issues of race politics, cultural representation and social emancipation. In an attempt to reconcile the black subject with images of Western ideals, Marshall places both in his paintings, highlighting determinations of black identity that are contextualised by history and the current social-political situation. Also addressing the history of art, Marshall strives to fill what he describes as the 'lack in the image bank' with his work, whilst raising pertinent questions about how the art system sustains itself and the related antagonisms of legitimation, power and marginalisation.

Yet painting is really only one facet of an exquisitely polymorphous practice that also includes sculpture, photography, installation, collage, video, prints and animated film. It is precisely his aesthetic wealth and visual intelligence that M HKA is seeking to foreground in the exhibition KERRY JAMES MARSHALL Painting and Other Stuff – the biggest exhibition of work by Marshall to date, co-produced by a major European museum partnership. Painting and Other Stuff opens up Marshall’s multifaceted approach to making art, offering us a glimpse into his inner world of ideas and ambitions.

KERRY JAMES MARSHALL - Painting and Other Stuff is co-organised by M HKA in Antwerp, Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. It is a long-overdue survey of Marshall’s work in mainland-Europe, and the most substantial presentations in his career to date.

Kerry James Marshall - Painting and Other Stuff M HKA, Antwerp, 4 October 2013 till 2 February 2014

After M HKA, Painting and Other Stuff will travel to Copenhagen (27.02–04.05.2014), Barcelona (10.06–26.10.2014) and Madrid (12.06–26.10.2014).