Negress

2017

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

This impression of a face was taken directly from a reproduction of Why Born Enslaved! Walker designed the work to be displayed on the ground in a corner like a discard, lit by a single ambient light. The plaster mold both traces and displaces Carpeaux’s bust, reinterpreting it as a hollow shell and haunting effigy. Its illumination dematerializes the sculptural surface, creating pools of light and shadow that form a ghostly presence. Like Walker’s famous paper-cut silhouettes, this work uses negative space to evoke the wounds of history. Speaking about her art’s relationship to the past, Walker has stated: "I’m not making work about reality; I’m making work about images. I’m making work about fictions that have been handed down to me."

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Negress
Artist: Kara Walker (American, born Stockton, California, 1969)
Date: 2017
Culture: American
Medium: Plaster
Dimensions: H. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm), W. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm), D. 5 in. (12.7 cm)
Classification: Sculpture-Plaster
Credit Line: Courtesy the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts