ThemesandmotifsintheartofKaraWalker,fromblackfacetoabjection,byaleadingarthistorianIn2002,KaraWalkerwasselectedtorepresenttheUnitedStatesattheprestigiousS瓊oPauloArtBiennial.CuratorRobertHobbswroteextendedessaysonherworkforthisexhibition,andalsoforhershowlaterthatyearattheKunstvereinHannover.BecausetheseessayshavenotbeendistributedintheUSandremainamongthemostin-depthandessentialinvestigationsofherwork,Karmaisnowrepublishingtheminthisnewclothboundvolume.Amongthemostcelebratedartistsofthepastthreedecades,withover93soloexhibitionstohercredit,includingamajorsurveyattheWhitneyMuseumofAmericanArt,Walkerisknownforhertough,critical,provocativeandhighlyimaginativerepresentationsofAfricanAmericansandwhitesreachingbacktoantebellumtimes.Inhisanalysis,Hobbslooksatthefivemainsourcesofherart:blackfaceAmericana,Harlequinromances,JuliaKristeva’sconceptofabjection,StoneMountain’sracisttouristattractionandtheminstreltradition.RobertHobbs(born1946)haswrittenmorethan50booksandcatalogs,focusingonsuchartistsasMiltonAvery,AliceAycock,LeeKrasner,RobertSmithsonandKehindeWiley.Since1991hehasheldtheRhodaThalhimerEndowedChairofAmericanArtintheSchoolofArts,VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity.Since2004hehasservedasavisitingprofessoratYaleUniversity.NowbasedinNewYork,KaraWalkerwasborninStockton,California,in1969.ShereceivedherMFAfromtheRhodeIslandSchoolofDesignin1994;soonafterward,Walkerrosetoprominenceforherlarge,provocativesilhouettesinstalleddirectlyontothewallsofexhibitionspaces.
