9/3/2019
Art and Women
Prof. Cacoilo
Expression of Cultural Issues
Kara Walker is an African American artist whose work focuses on the racial history of black people throughout history. The racism shown in her work is slavery from its beginning to the time the Civil War ended. Her art involves cut-paper silhouettes which involves black figures on a white wall. Walker designs her work in this style because the color black represents slavery itself, and she wants her audience to see and feel how those with black skin had to endure so much through the actions of white oppressors. Putting this into her work alone goes to show how much compassion she has for her kind, and this is the reason that I believe her work addresses critical issues.
Even though slavery has been abolished, the hate towards those with black skin still exists presently. Walker is known to include racial and sexual content in her art, and she is not afraid to do because she believes both racism and sexual abuse is what the country was founded upon. Walker wants those who look into her work to see visually how much brutality they went through by looking at the figures in black. Learning how much brutality African Americans went through visually can have a different effect on someone’s mind than reading it. An artist who is not afraid to express brutal conflict in her work to get the attention of others on racism definitely addresses cultural issues because it still has a huge impact on the nation. Spreading cultural awareness in a brutal manner might be a way to show American citizens how bad it is, which could possibly lead to these issues decreasing.
Her designs include both racism and sexual violence, and the one shown titled “Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as it Occurred b'tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart (1994)” includes them in a very disturbing manner. Racism is shown by a woman in the water who is possibly the black mistress of the man kissing another woman before a tree. Sexual violence is shown with the erection of the man on the boat, and the African woman with him is engaging in oral sexual relations. Walker puts an event as inappropriate as this as an example of what America was built on. The content of it would make viewers feel disgusted and more knowledgeable on what this country truly is.
Cite: https://www.theartstory.org/images20/works/walker_kara_1.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment