PUBLIC RECEPTION: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 6 – 8PM
Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers present the first retrospective of Kara Walker’s video works at Sprüth Magers, London.
Film has long played a crucial role in Kara Walker’s groundbreaking artistic practice. Eight of Walker’s films highlight her diverse approach to filmmaking, signature use of silhouettes, and insightful handling of space, sound and time to expose profound and enduring historical traumas andnarratives. The exhibition will also include an array of artefacts that shed light on Walker’s process as she conceives of and composes her films.
Shot lists, handwritten notes, cut-and-pasted lines of text, sketches and puppets are interspersed with the artist’s moving images, deepening our understanding of her films and her expansive practice of unforgettable work across mediums.
The concept of the exhibition has been formulated for many years by Hilton Als, who himself has known Walker for several years. The exhibition moves from the earliest film, from 2004, entitled Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions, to later works such as Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi’s Blue Tale, 2011.
Opening concurrently to this exhibition, Kara Walker’s Hyundai
Commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, a new site-specific work, will
be open to the public from October 2, 2019 until April 5, 2020.
Image: Kara Walker, Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burned by Good
Intentions (film still), 2004 © Kara Walker
SPRÜTH MAGERS LOCATIONS:
ORANIENBURGER STR. 1810178 BERLIN
7A GRAFTON STREET
LONDON, W1S 4EJ
5900 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD
LOS ANGELES, CA 90036