“A Subtlety” - by artist and Columbia University Professor Dr. Kara E. Walker
Brooklyn, New York, USA - “Wow!” is the first thing that comes to mind as you initially gaze upon the giant structure, made of white refined sugar within the fairly dark interior - lit mainly by the sun filtering through panes of glass high above.
“A Subtlety” by artist Kara Walker is a living, breathing history lesson in another dark chapter of the Americas. Moreover, it is an experience. As quietly as it is kept, the legacy and appetite for sugar and slavery cannot be separated. Housed in the now-defunct historic Brooklyn Domino Sugar factory along the waterfront of the East River, the giant ‘Sugar Sphinx’ speaks to the terrible conditions and suffering by those who bore the brutality of this industry at its inception.
Kara Walker’s creation is a masterpiece for the ages. It’s all there. She captured everything - pain, strength, environment, nobility, exploitation, beauty, abuse, sex, violence, disrespect, sadness, lies, robbery, scandal, denial, death and survival.
In imagery: “A Subtlety”
- by artist and Columbia University Professor Dr. Kara E. Walker
The piece will mean different things to different people but its power will not and cannot be denied. It is a reality check. What you leave with is not just a memory of the sculpture, but more so the reactions of the people visiting and present at the art work. The brilliance of Dr. Walker’s piece is that the attendees themselves become part of the “exhibit” - all latencies rise to the surface - in public, evidenced by their patterns of behavior in response to what they are viewing.
Unfortunately, “A Subtlety,” the art work will be taken apart and the 80 tons of Domino’s sugar that went into it, recycled, and the factory will be demolished. On Saturday, hundreds of people lined up as early as 10:00 a.m., with the line eventually stretching more than four blocks along Kent Avenue all the way back to Broadway. But the line moved fairly quickly once 11:00 a.m. arrived.
If you can get to this exhibit - go see it. It’s free, and there is one more day - July 6, 2014, from 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. It is something to be experienced by everyone ‘live’ and in person. It is one of the most significant pieces of art in the history of America.
related links:
Kara Walker: “A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby”
Artist Kara Walker’s ‘A Subtlety’ Draws 130,000 Visitors to
Sugar Factory
More
on Kara Walker - by Artsy