Richard J. Powell's forthcoming book 'Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect' delves into the intersection of color and race in Black American art. Lavishly illustrated, it examines works by artists like William H. Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, and Lorna Simpson, exploring how pigment and paint reveal cultural and political forces.

The term 'colorstruck' is reimagined as a lens for artistic marvel, moving beyond colorism. Powell uses Johnson's vibrant nudes and Basquiat's raw palettes to show how artists deploy chromatic intensity to express identity and emotion, making this a visually and intellectually rich volume.