Kara Walker meets The Brothers Grimm
Comments
8 responses to “Kara Walker meets The Brothers Grimm”
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Wow. That’s offensive.
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Really? Wasn’t meant to be at all. It’s just very much like Kara Walker, only the characters in this artwork are all white, whereas Walker’s silhouettes are all of African descent.
Seems a pretty benign, and truthful statement.
…ryan
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While it’s obvious that Kate was inspired by Kara’s style, a person who knows what Kara’s work is about understands that comparing Kara’s deep content/connection/motivation of African-American suffrage to Kate’s simple story-book whimsy is, even if unintentional, degrading and disrespectful.
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i think you’re taking it a bit seriously to call it degrading. but you’re entitled to feel that way. i just had to mention the similarity to kara’s well-known works, with caucasian depictions instead of afro-centric depictions.
…ryan
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Actually, Walker’s figures aren’t all African American. She depicts white women and girls in hoop skirts and slave masters and their sons in her silhouettes. However, because all of her characters appear in the color black, she eliminates the distinction of skin color, relying on stereotypes and caricatures to convey race.
Simmons’ work is interesting, but I agree with Nia. Although there is a slight similarity in style, Walker’s message carries much more weight.
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IF slavery were a fairytale, Simmons work would be comparable to Walkers. But it wasn’t a fairytale. While Simmons work may be relevant, it is far from the realm of Walker and has NOTHING to with race.
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super offensive
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Deb, and others… I took your comments to heart regarding the offensive nature of my post’s title, and as a result have decided to change it.
Full disclosure, the title of the post used to be “If Kara Walker were White,” which I had not intended as a slight to her ethnicity, nor toward the depth and richness of her works.
My comparison was cosmetic and topical rather than substantive. As a result I overlooked the simple unintended impression of the words themselves.
I still believe that these works are worthy of comparison to those of Kara Walker. However, I will stick to the facts and make the comparison strictly aesthetic.
Thank You,
…ryan
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