Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/67357
hottest ticket Jennifer Blei Stockman (right) and Kara Walker, in front the artist's recent Palmetto Libretto shadow boxer KARA WALKER, FAMOUS FOR HER LARGE CUT PAPER SILHOUETTES, RECEIVES THE ANDERSON RANCH NATIONAL ARTIST AWARD. SHE SPEAKS TO JENNIFER BLEI STOCKMAN, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR THE SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION, ABOUT HER PENCHANT FOR PROVOCATION. C ontemporary artist Kara Walker has been making statements with her work ever since the age of 24, when she debuted a groundbreak- ing, racially charged mural at the Drawing Center in SoHo. Her works have been described as having perverse or even nightmarish con- tent, yet Walker is often simply holding a mirror to American society. The Anderson Ranch Arts Center is honoring Walker on July 21 with the pres- tigious National Artist Award during its annual Recognition Dinner. An expert on today's global art scene, Jennifer Blei Stockman recently caught up with Walker at her NYC gallery, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., amid Walker's preparation of large-scale pieces for international fairs. 74 aspenpeak-magazine.com JENNIFER BLEI STOCKMAN: Is your work meant to remind us of how brutal the antebellum era was, and is it always political? KARA WALKER: Whether my work is actually historical and political is the first question I propose, by working with cheap materials and a devalued art form—cut paper silhouettes. I reference the images and stories that roman- ticize slavery, victimization, and the tendency of human behavior toward abuse. My work is idiosyncratic, always with real-time references, and my subjective take on the world. I refute the idea that it is "just" about slavery or the antebellum South. America makes its own myths, and I think the Civil War era contains the contradictions of our better ideals as a society. photographs by sari goodfriend (portrait,painting)