Kara Walker
Kara Walker, born 1969 in California, lives and works in New York. Walker is a groundbreaking artist known for transforming the genteel tradition of the colonial silhouette into a powerful medium of critique. By appropriating this historically delicate form, once used for polite portraiture, Walker subverts its associations to confront America’s legacy of racism and violence. Her work often features stark black-and-white cut-paper scenes that are both visually striking and deeply unsettling, presenting graphic, violent imagery with the deceptive beauty of clean lines and minimalist forms. This contrast creates a space for viewers to grapple with the uncomfortable truths she reveals – offering a biting, satirical commentary on the historical and ongoing dehumanization rooted in American culture.
Pastoral
1998
From Wall Works
Wall painting in black; size 183 cm (6 ft) tall. Limited to 15 installations, with a signed and numbered certificate.
This edition, Kara Walker explains, "is a departure from the bulk of my works which is situated in a fictionalized version of the Antebellum South, which is the hub where profane racial mythologies shake hands with the mundane reality of day to day existence in a racially divided culture. This is a quiet little contemplative piece in which a Negress of Renown dons sheep's clothing, or is dry humped by its filthy little self."
