Kara Walker Exhibit
The exhibit was unlike anything I’ve seen before. I never expected nor imagined the use of silhouette and puppetry to be so shocking or intense. Kara Walker decides to pursue a difficult mission by representing a group (black women) and provoking a reaction from the audience. Her mission is valid because history had a detrimental effect on African Americans and I feel like her work was used to give a voice to those that never had a chance to be heard. The exhibit is a chance to finally give details about the other side of the story, which unfortunately never received the attention it deserved due to the cruel fate of history.
One of Walker’s main techniques is the exploration of the so-called “untouchable” themes. Gruesome sexuality, violence, and racism are not openly spoken about in modern society. However, right from the beginning, the forbidden door is opened and we get a chance to explore the darkest, most secretive thoughts of Kara Walker’s mind. The effect of such themes on the audience is instantaneous; I know it took me a while to come to terms with such graphic content. Yet finally, after the initial shock, the picture becomes clearer and the chaos seems to make sense.
I think that Walker addresses many stereotypes about African American slaves during the time through her work. Because of the dominance of whites, slaves were depicted as bestial, lustful, savages who lacked any form of humanity in them. Slaves were viewed as mere objects who served the single purpose of working their lives out. Thus, Walker explicitly represents those depictions of slaves in order to attack society’s absurd view of african americans.
I was also quite surprised with the addressal of the artist’s dark, innermost, sexual desires through the painting. Much of the work reminded me of Freudean psychology because of the considerable amount of interpretative sexual content. One of the works depicted the famous scene from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” where one of the main characters is beaten to death. According to the guided audio tour, that scene had such a strong impact on people from the book’s generation that Freud himsef concluded that his sadomasoquist patients triggered their strong sexual urges after being exposed to the novel.
I found that her work had deep connections to some of Freud’s theories about repressed sexual desires that developed traumas in people. Perhaps Walker was a victim of those unconscious sexual desires and painting was her way of expressing the conflict between her id and super-ego…