School of Beauty, School of Culture, 2012 Kerry James Marshall

School of Beauty, School of Culture, 2012
Kerry James Marshall

Could This Be Love, 1992 Kerry James Marshall

Could This Be Love, 1992
Kerry James Marshall

Kerry James Marshall

For his large-scale, exuberant paintings, 61-year-old African American artist Kerry James Marshall paints only black people.

The paintings are emotional, bursting with everyday life in riotous colors and love. Even the most staid museum visitors have been seen to kiss in front of them!

Not all his works are of happiness, though — there are funerals, killers, lost boys, anger and grief — but always depicted in bright, bold colors and powerful shapes…and always filled with vibrant spirit!

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Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War…, 1994 Kara Walker

Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War…, 1994
Kara Walker

Kara Walker

Black contemporary artist Kara Walker shatters any romantic notion of the South, Civil War or slavery. Walker cuts out huge life-size silhouettes in black paper…nightmarish images of slavery in the Antebellum South.

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in Pursuit of Venus, 2017, Panoramic video by Lisa Reihana, a moving image interpretation of the French scenic wallpaper Les Sauvages De La Mer Pacifique, 1804, Joseph Dufour.

in Pursuit of Venus [infected], 2015
Still of panoramic video by Lisa Reihana

Lisa Reihana

Art and history make an explosive and exciting combination! Lisa Reihana, a Māori artist in Auckland, New Zealand, has produced a panoramic video that is irresistible in its storytelling of the encounters between the Polynesians and British Captain James Cook in 1770.

A major installation, sculpture, and video artwork is being featured at the 2017 Venice Biennale, the world’s largest art fair, depicting the profoundly beautiful and cultured Polynesians.

Watch this 1-minute video of Reihana’s work! Look for Captain Cook!
Click here if you are unable to view the video.

Research assistance by Alex Cordier, writer based in Auckland, New Zealand working in a variety of sales roles within the tourism and hospitality sectors. Alex is a passionate writer, with a particular focus on travel, lifestyle, and contemporary art.

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