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Kerry James Marshall Identity Analysis

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Identity is the pursuit of artists in their work, especially after the end of World War II. Artists have different ways to express their own identity of meanings in their works by many diverse factors such as gender, class, cultural factor, and political factor. In this article, I will compare Ah Xian and Kerry James Marshall works of art, and analyze the similarities and uniqueness of their works as well as the process and reasons of their identity. I will explain the construction of identity and fluidity of identity by comparing the art works of Ah Xian and Kerry James Marshall.
Ah Xian grew up in China, and then emigrated to Australia and lived for almost twenty years. Because of these two kinds of background culture, he shows the combination …show more content…

Kerry James Marshall was born in Alabama, and grew up in Watts, Angeles Los. The life and history of the black subjects as the core have always been his signature style. His work always provides a perspective on the complexity of the situation of African Americans, and his views on race, politics, and culture. Obviously, Kerry James Marshall use black race as his way to approaches identity politics so that his work also shows essentialism. “Essentialism is the idea that members of certain categories have an underlying, unchanging property or attribute (essence) that determines identity and causes outward behavior and appearance”(Bain, P. G., 2013, page 115). Marshall identifies himself as belonging to the “black” group so that his work shows a special identity which is …show more content…

“Marshall seems to identify that blackness is fundamental to what it means to be African American”(Robertson, J., & McDaniel, C., 2005, page 49). Marshall always attempts to reconcile the Western ideals and black theme, he will make the juxtaposition of the two objects in his painting, prominent hero of black identity, emphasizing the background of the identity of the history and the current social and political conditions. Marshall is committed to the pure western countries in the black culture and black social identity, which reflect the social problems of racial discrimination. Since he concentrated on the painting of black objects, people often recognize his paintings and feel the black cultural background that he

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