Provocative and emotionally charged, Kara Walker’s work examines American history through her singular blend of realism and romantic fantasy. Exploring issues of race, power, and sexuality, her unique culturally-informed imagery is presented here within the format of a classical, black and white frieze.

Kara Walker (b. 1969) delineates American history and attitudes about gender, race and sexuality with singular dispassion. She earned her BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1991 and her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. Walker is best known for her signature cut-paper silhouette installations and light projection puppet-show videos, which work to implicate audiences as they bear witness to scenes of characters inflicting heinous acts of violence upon one another. A 1997 MacArthur Grant Recipient, Walker was also the 2002 United States representative for the São Paulo Art Biennial in Brazil.

Selected Public Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
Tate Gallery, London, UK