Artistic Expressions

Marshall paints Black figures in contrasted, deep tones of black and brown, subverting the typical use of white space to represent whiteness in classical paintings. Marshall brings Blackness to the forefront, exploring its beauty, dignity, and complexity, while also confronting the absence of Black subjects in art history. His work serves as a visual reclamation of representation, particularly in the context of art institutions that have historically marginalized or ignored Black people.

One of his works, Brownie (1995, Whitney Museum of American Art), specifically addresses the tension between identity, race, and cultural perception. The painting depicts a young Black child wearing a hat. The word "Brownie" appears at the bottom of the piece, which refers to the cultural stereotype of Black people being seen as ‘brown’ or a simplified racial identity and the reduction of the complexity of Blackness to a color and a nickname.