Campfire Girls 1995

Kerry James Marshall made "Campfire Girls" with paint on canvas. The painting seems to emerge out of a dense atmosphere of blues and greens, which suggests both a real, observed space, and something more dreamlike, a space of memory. I imagine Kerry James Marshall, working on this painting, layering image on image, feeling his way through the composition. There is a real generosity to the work. I can relate to that generosity as a painter myself. There's something so open about the process. It’s a real site of inquiry for both the artist and the viewer. The textures feel thin and washy, which lets the figures float out of the ground. I love the text, laid over the images. This piece feels related to other contemporary painters, for instance, someone like Laura Owens. It reminds me that artists are always inspiring one another, carrying on a big conversation across time.