Kara Walker

My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love

March 2, 2008 - June 8, 2008

: Kara Walker Darkytown Rebellion 2001 Cut paper and projection on wall. 14 x 37 ft. (4.3 x 11.3 m). Collection Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg.; Kara Walker Emancipated, and On Tour 2000 Cut paper and projection on wall. 9 x 11 in. (22.9 x 27.9 cm). Courtesy the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York.; Kara Walker The End of Uncle Tom and the Grand Allegorical Tableau of Eva in Heaven 1995 Cut paper on wall. 15 x 35 ft. (4.6 x 10.7 m). Collection Jeffrey Deitch, New York.; Kara Walker Negress Notes 1995 Collage, ink, gouache, graphite, and watercolor on paper. 6 x 9 in. (15.2 x 22.9 cm). Collection Ellen and Richard Sandor, Chicago.; Kara Walker Negress Notes (Brown Follies) 1995 Watercolor on paper. 9 x 6 in. (22.9 x 15.2 cm). Collection Michael and Joan Salke, Naples, Florida.; Kara Walker Philadelphia 1996 Gouache on paper. 80.5 x 51.5 in. (204.5 x 130.8 cm). Courtesy The Dakis Joannou Collection, Athens.; Kara Walker Trilogy 2001 Mixed media and paper on canvas board. 9 x 12 in. (22.9 x 30.5 cm). Collection Jean-Pierre and Rachel Lehmann.; Kara Walker Gone, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart 1994 Cut paper on wall. 13 x 50 ft. (4 x 15.2 m). Collection The Museum of Modern Art, Gift of the Speyer Family Foundation in honor of Marie-Josée Kravis.; Kara Walker A Work on Progress 1998 Cut paper on wall. 69 x 80 in. (175.3 x 203.2 cm). Collection of Judie and Howard Ganek.

About the Exhibition

Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love is the first comprehensive presentation of this remarkable African American artist’s career. Walker has risen to international prominence for visually stunning works that challenge conventional narratives of American history and the antebellum South. With biting humor, the artist comments on race, slavery and liberation, sexual attraction and exploitation, discrimination, and modernity. The Hammer is the only West Coast venue for the show, which originated at the Walker Art Center and has traveled to the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. It has been curated by Walker Art Center’s Chief Curator and Deputy Director Philippe Vergne. Kara Walker is a particularly meaningful exhibition for the Hammer Museum, as Walker was the first artist to be featured in the now-celebrated Hammer Projects series, which offers solo exhibitions to emerging artists.

Audio Tour

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Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love was organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. It is made possible by generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., the Lannan Foundation, the Peter Norton Family Foundation, Linda and Lawrence Perlman, and Marge and Irv Weiser. Additional support is provided by Jean-Pierre and Rachel Lehmann.

Major support for the Hammer Museum’s presentation is provided by The Broad Art Foundation and The Joy and Jerry Monkarsh Family Foundation.

It is also made possible through the generosity of the Lannan Foundation, Susan and Larry Marx, Harvey S. Shipley Miller, George Freeman, and The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. Public programs for the exhibition are supported by Catherine Benkaim and Barbara Timmer.