Kara Walker, "The Ballad of How We Got Here," 2021. Flashe, ink, and cut paper on paper. 124 1⁄2 x 139 3⁄4 inches. Images courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; Sprüth Magers, Berlin.
The artist Kara Walker is most widely identified by her striking silhouetted depictions of slavery, violence, and other real-life terrors, but her artistic practice has been underpinned by a constant willingness to experiment and conquer new media. Two joint exhibits at the Georgetown University art galleries demonstrate her mastery of various crafts and forays into different forms of expression. Kara Walker: Back of Hand in the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery features some of the same subject matter of Walker’s best-known work, but the focus here is on drawing. Watercolor washes, ink, and charcoal drawings call to mind studies or drafts for larger compositions, and some inspiration comes from old masters such as Francisco Goya and Rembrandt, and from medieval books of hours. Other compositions veer into abstraction and word art, or deploy mixed media and collage techniques, showing the range that Walker embodies. In the Lucille M. & Richard F.X. Spagnuolo Gallery, Prince McVeigh and the Turner Blasphemies is a short stop-motion animated film that chronicles a history of White supremacist violence, including the Oklahoma City bombing committed by Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh has been cited as an inspiration and template to modern-day White supremacists, and Walker’s video crystallizes the way that demons become mythologized and idolized. Her signature silhouettes are at play here, putting on a disconcerting puppet show and bringing her static images to life with ghostly movements, reinforcing her themes of reawakened histories. The works in these twin exhibits are characteristically “challenging,” as Walker’s work is often termed, but all show the hand of an artist that is continually challenging herself and pushing the confines of her work. The gallery hosts an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 21 with an open bar and light refreshments. Kara Walker: Back of Hand and Prince McVeigh and the Turner Blasphemies run from Sept. 21 through Dec. 3. delacruzgallery.org. Free.
