Kerry James Marshal Mastry at THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

Veröffentlicht am 31.01.2017

James Kalm finally makes it to the Metropolitan Museum’s Breuer Branch (formerly the Whitney Museum), and takes in Kerry James Marshal’s “Mastery”. With only three days left, your correspondent pushes past the crowds and slips in to see what has been widely acknowledged as one of the best shows in New York in 2016. Despite being informed that there is no video recording allowed, James Kalm none the less makes an attempt to capture views of the “Garden Series”, the breakthrough body of work that established Marshal as a contemporary “Master”. This series of massive unstretched canvases depict scenes inspired by public housing projects in Los Angeles and Chicago, all with the word “garden” in their names. By melding references from classic Renaissance masterpieces, Social Realism, Haitian Voodoo, cartoons, comic books, Kitsch and Abstract Expressionism, the artist posits images that reflect the complexity of the African American experience and the social conflicts of his era. This program was recorded January 27, 2017 at the Met Breuer.