Voyager

1992

Kerry James Marshall

Artist, American, born 1955

A man and a woman with black skin stand in a sage and olive-green boat that comes toward us on a wavy, dripping band of cobalt blue that spans the lower edge of this loosely hanging, square canvas. The word “WANDERER” is written in white capital letters along the bow of the boat. Closer to us, in the boat, a woman is seen from the hips up. An oval, cloud-like form covers her torso, shoulders, and the area behind her head. It is white with rose-pink swirls, and has a few black lines creating scallops around the edge. A black shape at her waist, just over a cobalt-blue skirt, could indicate that at least one arm is bent behind her back. The penis, thighs, and knees of a man are seen between the boat and the triangular, pale lilac-purple sail. The sail is painted with long, curling strokes of violet purple up its center. A long, white pennant with two gold stars flutters from the boat’s burgundy-red mast, which has a crosspiece just below the pennant. The water is painted with strokes of royal blue, which partially drip over a white skull at the lower center. The boat is set against a background layered in washes of white, shell pink, and baby blue, with swirls and thin strokes of brick red scattered across it. A yellow sun outlined in deeper gold peeks above the horizon in the lower left, and is repeated with more orbs that together make an arc that curves to the upper right corner. A few geometric line drawings hover next to the woman, on our left, such as a compass-like cross with a crosshatched oval at each end. A black number "1" floats in the lower left, above the water, and a black number "7" floats near the upper left. Two more black sevens float near the upper right, next to another heart-shaped line drawing. The background transitions from the pale washes to darker orbs of pink and blue, that overlap a band of black that nearly spans the top edge. In that upper zone, a black, gold, and red compass floats near the top of the mast, to our left. A sheet with anatomical illustrations hangs from the left arm of the mast. The drawings show cell clusters and human fetuses, some circled in red. A second drawing of a house circled in lilac purple hangs on the right arm, next to a third drawing of concentric circles.

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Acquired 1993 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1992

  • Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, 1992.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008.

2013

  • In the Tower: Kerry James Marshall, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2013, unnumbered checklist.

2016

  • Kerry James Marshall: Mastry, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; The Met Breuer, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2016-2017, pl. 20.

Bibliography

2022

  • National Gallery of Art. "Afro-Atlantic Histories: Interview with Curator Kanitra Fletcher." Art for the Nation no. 65 (Spring 2022): 8, Fig. 8.

2024

  • Haw, Kate, Charles Brock, James Meyer, and Donna Kirk. "The Conversation Series. A Look Behind the Latest Installation.". Art for the Nation no. 68 (Spring 2024): 6-7, fig. 5.

Wikidata ID

Q20198031


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