Kerry James Marshall’s Black Birds Take Flight in a New Series

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By TED LOOS
Kerry James Marshall’s “Black and part Black Birds in America: (Crow, Goldfinch),” 2020. It is one of two new works by the artist that David Zwirner Gallery will put on view this week. Kerry James Marshall and David Zwirner
About 10 years ago, the artist Kerry James Marshall caught a crow with his bare hands. The bird was cornered awkwardly near Mr. Marshall’s home on the South Side of Chicago, and curiosity got the better of him. “At first he screamed like he was being murdered,” Mr. Marshall said. “The minute I put him by my side, he got quiet.” The next day, he let the bird go. The crow meeting, which started out as research, somehow edged into a metaphysical encounter with deeper meanings, and it now informs Mr. Marshall’s newest series of paintings. His first two canvases officially debut Thursday in an online show, “Studio: Kerry James Marshall,” at David Zwirner Gallery. [More