Black History Month: Kara Walker
If this artist were a product at the supermarket, she would come with a warning label. Seriously, though, if you are triggered by depictions of sexual violence or negative stereotypes, maybe you should skip this post.
Let’s talk about:
Kara Walker is best known for her silhouette installations about anti-Black racism, colonialism, and sexual violence. She also paints and sculpts. In each medium, though, Walker has used stereotypical images of Black people to attack these issues.
Kara Walker, “A Subtlety, or The Marvelous Sugar Baby.” Photo credit: Adjoajo/Wikimedia Commons
Not surprisingly, she’s pissed off a lot of people, including the legendary sculptor Betye Saar, who essentially said Walker’s work demeans the struggles of Black women merely to entertain white people.
I’m not entirely comfortable with Walker’s work, either. Still, I’m drawn to it because of:
The sheer audacity she’s shown throughout her career
The patience and skill necessary to cut the silhouettes, even with support from assistants
The satirical, grandiose titles of her works, which remind me of 19th century carnival barker exaggerations
Walker is a Problematic Fave. I think she intellectualizes the negative stereotypes as fictions with no basis in reality, but I doubt all her collectors do. If I had to choose between, say, having lunch with Walker or lunch with Betye Saar, I’m not sure who I’d pick.
Still with me? Stick around for tomorrow’s inspiring artist.
Black History Month: Alison Saar
Welcome back! I’m continuing my blog series on visual and literary Black artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:
Alison Saar is probably best known for her massive found-object sculptures that explore the experience of Black women throughout the African diaspora. She’s also an accomplished printmaker; many of the 2D works influence her larger sculptures. I was fortunate enough to meet her during the opening of her solo exhibition “Mirror Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar,” which ran concurrently with the group exhibition in which I showed my own work.
Alison Saar and I in front of my work at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at WSU. Photo credit: Ryan Hardesty
I can’t say this too many times: art is best experienced in person, especially sculpture. Some of the reasons Saar inspires me:
She uses a chainsaw to shape some of her largest sculptures
She often prints on surfaces whose history carries almost as much meaning as the images themselves
The empty eyes in her prints are both a little spooky and easier to look at than a traditional painting, but I can’t explain why.
And in case you were wondering, yes, Alison’s mother is assemblage artist Betye Saar, whom I profiled last week.
Tomorrow’s artist makes work that gives the opposite vibe. See you then.
Black History Month: Betye Saar
Welcome back! If this is your first time on my blog, I’ve started a project for Black History Month, sharing some of the visual and literary artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:
Artist Betye Saar in her studio. Photo credit: David Sprague for Roberts Projects
Well. I’ll just say I am so glad to be on this planet during her lifetime. This assemblage artist is best known for “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,” in which she transformed a racist “mammy” cookie jar into a rebel armed with a broom, a grenade, and a rifle. Among the many reasons I love her and her work:
She was born, raised, and educated in the Los Angeles area, where I grew up
She kept producing new pieces while raising her three daughters (a writer and two visual artists)
Her work has always been upfront about anti-Black racism, even at a time when vanishingly few art galleries would even look at art created by Black people.
Would you believe art is her second career? She started out as a social worker. She turns 97 years old this year, and she’s still making new work. Just phenomenal.
Stick around for the first full week of Black History Month. There are lots more artists to come!