I went to the Whitney this past Saturday to view the Kara Walker exhibit, and also ended up viewing other exhibits as well. But I’ll only chat about hers right now. The show is titled “Kara Walker, My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love.”
Wasn’t sure what to expect, until my friend Ivan warned me before hand. Controversial. Thats the word I would use to describe Kara’s work. The content is a bit disturbing to say the least. And it will stir up your emotions. Supposedly she is not liked by many African Americans, even though she is herself black. And I can see why. She touches on social and political views on racism and slavery with blatant raw imagery and crass humor. She uses all mediums to convey her message; from cut out silhouettes to paper on canvas, drawings, ink, video, projections and collage. Her work also ranges from words on paper, to narrative video using her silhouettes. Here’s a quote from “Conversations with Contemporary Artists: Kara Walker“, a MoMA Online Project.
“I knew that if I was going to make work that had to deal with race issues, they were going to be full of contradictions. Because I always felt that it’s really a love affair that we’ve got going in this country, a love affair with the idea of it, with the notion of major conflict that needs to be overcome and maybe a fear of what happens when that thing is overcome. And, of course, the issues also translate into [the] very personal: Who am I beyond this skin I’m in?”
In my opinion, when something triggers raw emotions and thought, I believe its true art. This exhibit is definitely not suitable for everyone, but a must see.
note: click on the image above to view more images from my museum trip.
