"Biting, funny, astonishing, difficult, surprising, erudite and hugely ambitious, Kerry James Marshall’s The Histories is the largest show of the black American’s work ever held in Europe. Its effects are cumulative. ***** The Guardian"

West Port were commissioned by the Royal Academy of Arts to design the exhibition for Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, the largest UK survey of the acclaimed American painter. Subtle, considered, and ambitious in its approach, the spatial design is the culmination of years of close collaboration between the RA and the design team.  
Marshall enhances the presence of Black figures in paintings built on principles codified in the tradition of Western picture-making he encountered in books and museums during his childhood. He places Black bodies front and centre in his lyrical, frequently large-scale figurative paintings and murals.  

Marshall’s work is informed by personal memories, art historical styles, contemporary culture, and science fiction. He uses these reference points to comment on the past, celebrate everyday life, and imagine more optimistic futures. Organised thematically across 11 sections, this exhibition features 70 works—including a new series of paintings made especially for the show and his evolving commemorative sculpture, Wake.  

While the physical built interventions remain intentionally understated, the exhibition design maximises spatial impact through a meticulously colour strategy, long sight-lines, and dynamic gallery compositions. For two years, West Port worked in close collaboration with the curators to establish the correct colour palettes, placement of Marshall’s works and visitor flows. Seeing the Royal Academy’s grand scale as an asset, the layout orchestrates Kerry James Marshall’s monumental canvases into a series of visual dialogues that unfold across room thresholds.

Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London in collaboration with the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris.

Photos: © Royal Academy of Arts, London / David Parry