Kerry James Marshall: painting and other stuff is the first major presentation in Europe of the work of this American artist (Birmingham, Alabama, 1955). The exhibition has been co-produced by four european museums: M HKA (Antwerp, Belgium), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhaguen, Denmark), Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona) and Museo Reina Sofía.

Marshall is the author of an important body of figurative work in which he explores the themes of identity – national, gender, and especially racial identity – in an attempt to contextualize the Afro-American experience in today’s sociopolitical situation. The artist denounces what he calls art history’s “lack in the image bank,” a lack that calls into question existing legitimation systems. But his painting goes beyond that, it is also affirmative, technically complex and bold in the invention of new images that do their part to fill the void, finding inspiration both in popular culture – film and comics particularly – and in art.