One of the most important and best exhibitions of the summer was Kara Walker's A Subtlety, a collection of sculptures that were installed inside the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn. The centerpiece of the exhibition was a 160,000-pound naked sphinx with a Mammy face that stood at the back of the factory.
Following the show, the sphinx was dismantled along with the smaller pieces, but before sitting down for a conversation series with film director Ava DuVernay, Walker revealed in an interview with Carolina Miranda of the Los Angeles Times that she kept one of the sphinx's massive hands. She plans to show the appendage once again in her next show in November at the Sikkema Jenkins & Co. gallery in Chelsea, New York.
During the talk with DuVernay, Walker said that on the last day she recorded footage of people interacting with the exhibition and that she is deciding what to do with it. "People tweak the nipples, dive into the vagina, lots of guys being dudes in that way...and people get angry about it too," said the artist about what she saw and was told happened during the exhibition. She told Miranda, "People are stupid, but the greater majority are conscientious, if not always respectful, and they are aware of one another’s presence in the room." We hope that Walker decides to show the footage with the last remaining piece next month.
Check out the full conversation between DuVernay and Walker below, and read her full interview with Miranda here.
[via Artnet]
