For my final paper, I am researching Kara Walker. Walker’s most famous genre of art are her silhouettes that depict fantastical scenes from the Antebellum south. In these silhouettes, Walker relies on stereotypes in order to differentiate between the white and black characters in her scenes. Furthermore, she does not conform to the normal way in which Black artists have told the story of slavery and its aftermath. In other words, she does not always portray slaves/black people in a positive light and masters/white people in a negative light. Because of this she has been denounced by many older black female artists. Most famously Betye Saar accused Walker of “selling us down the river” to white art viewers/curators who, because of Walker, can continue to consume and uphold racist stereotypes under the guise of empowering Black artists. My question is: Is Kara Walker catering to the largely white art world’s “bestial fantasies” about black people or is she causing the art world to question/upend its stereotypes about black people?
Writing About Contemporary Figurative Art
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I was very intrigued by your question. I have always loved Walker’s work but never considered the implications that her work could lead white viewers to “continue to consume and uphold racist stereotypes under the guise of empowering Black artists.” I wonder if Walker would argue that by painting these images herself grants her with the power of reinterpretation and authority, thus subverting the white viewer.