Kerry James Marshall, a leading American painter, has debuted a new series of paintings as part of his survey exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The works, featured in a section titled “Africa Revisited,” examine the involvement of Africans in the transatlantic slave trade, a topic Marshall says is often ignored because it complicates simplistic narratives of good versus evil. One painting, *Abduction of Olaudah and His Sister* (2023), depicts the kidnapping of 18th-century writer Olaudah Equiano, while three others—*Outbound*, *Haul*, and *Cove* (all 2025)—show Black figures actively participating in the slave trade. Marshall’s earlier Middle Passage works from the 1990s are also on view.
The exhibition matters because it confronts a historically sensitive and underrepresented aspect of the slave trade, challenging both art-historical conventions and public discourse. By depicting Black people with agency—including as participants in the trade—Marshall forces viewers to reckon with moral complexity and shared responsibility. The show reinforces Marshall’s reputation as a painter who uses figurative art to address systemic racism and historical memory, and it positions the Royal Academy as a venue for politically engaged contemporary art.