Kerry James Marshall: Art in the Atrium March 19, 2009

Specially commissioned for SFMOMA, Kerry James Marshall's monumental murals in the Haas Atrium show Mount Vernon and Monticello, the estates of American presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Although these cherished sites have been depicted countless times, Marshall's paintings stand apart by playfully incorporating images of the slaves who supported plantation life. At first glance, a number of optical tricks conceal them from view, but visitors who engage in the artist's visual game will discover the otherwise invisible figures who are so often omitted from representations of American history.