Walker, Kara
1969-present · Contribution: 1994-present
Visual Arts
Contemporary art using room-size black cut-paper silhouette tableaux, drawing, painting, projection, sculpture, and film to interrogate race, gender, sexuality, and violence in the narratives of the antebellum South

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Category
- Visual Arts
Impact on the world
Walker weaponized a decorative Victorian art form to confront the violence and sexuality of American slavery, provoking urgent national conversations about race and history.
Sources
- Tate
1 more sources and references are available to members.
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