Kara Walker

Kara Walker is considered one of the most important contemporary artists. Her work addresses themes of violence, identity, race, and sexuality in the context of the still-present psychological wound caused by the tragic legacy of slavery, presenting a critical vision of the historical past and examining racial and gender stereotypes in our current society. Known for her work with silhouettes created from paper cutouts (a technique that has its roots in Victorian shadow portraits), Walker's practice also includes graphic work, installations, drawing, video, and sculpture. All these media serve her to explore how the figure of color and the notion of race have been represented in modern and contemporary art, as well as the need to establish new narratives that challenge the way we look at and understand history. The images in Walker's work, drawn from both historical realism and the fantastical space of the imagined, seduce through their emotional rawness, the intellectual force they contain, and their visual beauty. The numerous works by Kara Walker present in the collection span her entire trajectory, and constitute one of the most complete sets of the artist's work existing in European institutions.