Kara Walker

Wooster Gardens is pleased to announce an exhibition of recent works by Kara Walker. This exhibition takes into account the diverse aspects of Walker’s oeuvre including her characteristic, silhouette works on paper, large-scale drawings, an installation comprised of manipulated, vintage objects employing Afro-Centric imagery and, for the first time, the presentation of a major text piece that reflects Walker’s ongoing interest in language through which she explores the constructs of racial identity and projects a literary vocation as a gifted storyteller.

Kara Walker is best known for wall installations that make use of cut-out silhouettes to stage pastoral scenes reminiscent of the Old South. In these works Walker subverts the conventions of the genre, traditionally linked to portraiture, to narrate dark, often ludicrous tales through fantastic allegories that blend apparent civility with sex and violent atrocities. As if derived from some sort of collective unconscious, these narratives touch upon issues of racial struggle, division of labor and gender, as “reenactments” of episodes of 19th Century American History.

The source of Walker’s rich imagery, laden with symbols of psycho-sexual nature, can befound in the extensive series of drawings and watercolors she has produced throughout her career. Her facility as a draftsperson renders a rich, expressive power to these works. Included in the exhibition is a series of large-scale works executed in coffee and gouache.