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9/21/2017

Walker, Kara - SAAM Washington

Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War
In this exhibition (13.10.2017 - 11.03.2018), Walker's works are presented alongside a selection of the original Harper's prints on which they are based, also drawn from SAAM's collection.
For over two decades, African American artist 



has been making work that weaves together imagery from the antebellum South, the brutality of slavery, and racist stereotypes. Best known for her use of the cut-paper silhouette, she transforms the genteel eighteenth-century portrait medium into stark, haunting tableaux. Walker plays with the idea of misrepresenting misrepresentations, stating, “The whole gamut of images of black people, whether by black people or not, are free rein in my mind.” Her work has stirred controversy for its use of exaggerated caricatures that reflect existing racial and gender stereotypes and for its lurid depictions of history, challenging viewers to consider America’s origins of racial inequality. In Walker’s art, the present is defined by the past and the past exerts a savage power. (Text: SAAM)