Great America 1994

Kerry James Marshall created this large-scale painting called *Great America*, but the date is unknown. Born in 1955, Marshall has spent his career exploring the representation of Black figures in Western art. Here, we see a group of Black figures riding a Venetian Plaster gondola. The figures are sailing through what appears to be a water park ride. Above them, the word "WOW" is painted in bold, comic-book style lettering. Yet the dark silhouettes and ghostly figures in the boat hint at an undercurrent of unease. The red cross on the left evokes notions of aid and intervention. The painting's title is splayed across the bottom in large lettering, like a faded advertisement. Marshall invites us to consider the promises and perils of the "Great America," particularly in relation to the Black experience. "You can't be invested in beauty without being invested in what it means to represent figures in the world," Marshall has said, pointing to the complex intersection of race, representation, and national identity at play in this work. The painting captures the emotional complexities of joy and apprehension, reflecting on the historical and contemporary realities of being Black in America.