How could ever a sugar sculpture hide so many bitter truths? Kara Walker is presenting her first sculpture, A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, in the former Domino Sugar Factory, in Brooklyn, NY.
The acquainted Afro-american artist is examining issues of identity, violence, gender, sexuality and race, thanks to her black figures, covering the walls of galleries and museums of contemporary art worldwide.
The same way she does with most of her works, Walker is surprising the viewers offering them something cute and sweet. But once they have mentally perceived what they are seeing, they come against the truth, how sugar is produced and workers’ depreciation in this case. She is also referring to sugar as blood sugar, so as to bring in mind the blood diamonds.
Her sugar sculpture is a Sphinx and is 75.5 feet long, 35.5 feet tall and 26 feet wide. On their way to the huge sculpture, viewers come across some smaller ones. For 45-year-old Walker, these are the ruins, standing below. They also work as a proem of what is next for the factory, which is going to be demolished, once the exhibition is over.
The exhibition will be open until June, 6th.
Κara Walker, www.walkerart.org
