West Port has been commissioned by the Royal Academy to prepare the exhibition design of the biggest UK survey of acclaimed American painter Kerry James Marshall.

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 available 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 his own memories, art historical styles and genres, contemporary culture and science fiction, among other points of reference. He uses these to comment on the past, celebrate everyday life, and imagine more optimistic futures.

Organised thematically, this exhibition features 70 works including a new series of paintings made especially for the show and his commemorative sculpture Wake which evolves each time it is exhibited.

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