SUGAR MAMA

At the behest of Creative Time Kara E. Walker has confected:

or the Marvelous Sugar Baby
an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant

Did you know there's a giant sphinx made out of sugar currently residing in an abandoned Domino Sugar factory in Brooklyn?  Not only is there a behemoth of a lady sphinx, but she is accompanied by a gaggle of children made out of molasses.  The entire experience is quite overwhelming, from the damp, expansive space to the ultra sweet smell that permeates your nostrils upon arrival.  Never one to really sugarcoat the issue, Walker's work over the past 20 years deals with themes of race and culture, and her overtly sexual, graphic, and suruprisingly lovely silhouettes have become ubiquitous with the relationship between art and cultural identity in our age.  This, her first large scale public project overwhelms both in its sense of scale, and also for its surprising relationship to her earlier work & development of the themes therein.  See the last time I wore my Kara Walker dress here.

Dress:  Jill Stuart

Sandals: Sam Edelman

A Subtlety is on view in Brooklyn until July 6, 2014.

Photos of me by Kathy Paciello; all other photos by me.

KARA WALKER

"I wanted to make work where the viewer wouldn't walk away; he would either giggle nervously, get pulled into history, fiction, into something totally demeaning and possibly very beautiful." --Kara Walker

Kara Walker (1969-) is a New York based artist, well known for her paper-cut silhouette works, which broach issues of race, identity, politics, and violence.

Walker's work first came to the public's attention when she was in her mid-20s, and she became the youngest artist to receive a MacArthur "genius" grant at age 27.

Specifically in relation to the plight of African American women in the antebellum South, Walker's room-size tableaux depict scenes from history, literature, and lore, adding a cinematic quality to the arrangement of life-size figures.

Walker works in many mediums, including gouache, animation and even shadow puppets.  In my opinion, her paper cut works are the most boldly thematic, zeroing in on the issues she raises through the stark contrast of black and white.

Upon immediate confrontation, the beautiful craftsmanship of the cut paper is striking.  The social, political, sexual, and violent themes come to light upon closer inspection.

Walker currently lives in New York City, where she is Professor of Visual Art at Columbia University's MFA program.

I'm wearing a Jill Stuart dress, Candela shoes, and a vintage leather clutch.

Photos by @kay_elle_pea.  Walker images from columbusmuseum.com, degenerationartstream.blogspot.com, nyclovesnyc.blogspot.com, and museumstudiesblog.blogspot.com.