For over 40 years, Chicago-based artist Kerry James Marshall has made it his mission to artistically represent black men and women in painting and sculpture. Drawing on the traditions of Western painting that he encountered in books and museums as a child, and blending them with other sources of contemporary culture and science fiction, Marshall places black bodies front and center in his figurative paintings and murals. Lyrical works that are both commentaries on the past and projections of more optimistic futures, often executed on a large scale. This exhibition features 70 of Marshall’s works, including a new series of paintings made specifically for the exhibition and his commemorative sculpture Wake that evolves each time it is exhibited.
The National Portrait Gallery in London marks Marilyn Monroe’s centenary with an exhibition running from June 4 to September 6, 2026. Photographs and artworks by major artists are shown alongside dresses and personal items, offering a layered portrait that goes beyond the myth of the star.