Emancipation Approximation (Scene 9) (Edition 4/25)

Kara Walker, born 1969, is an African American woman who has taken her place at the forefront of the contemporary art scene with  her art based on African-American stereotypes and self-perception.  Using silhouettes, Walker tells a series of grotesque tales of plantation slave life that she considers a historical reality suppressed or ignored by popular culture and political mores.  This particular work relates to post-Civil War attitudes, experiences and misconceptions.  In 1997, Walker became the youngest recipient ever of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's genius grant.