New York, NY
Kara Walker confronts race, gender, history, and sexuality in her work. She is best known for her cut-paper silhouettes, which are often employed in wall-size installations that have a narrative quality that evokes film or history painting. She uses this 19th-century technique to expose the violent history of American race relations, employing a vocabulary that draws on the Antebellum South and the grotesque. She has also produced shadow-puppet films in which she reimagines historical events such as the Middle Passage, as well as drawings whose subject matter is more contemporary and autobiographical.
Authenticating the Artifact, 2007, mixed media, cut paper, and acrylic on gessoed panel, 60″ x 84″ x 2″; photograph by Luciano Fileti; photo courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.