Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)

Kara Walker creates challenging works that address the legacy of slavery in American culture by invoking racial and gendered stereotypes and myths. This series of 15 prints features Walker’s signature black silhouettes layered over illustrations first published in Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War. Walker’s annotations draw attention to people, events and issues that have long been overlooked. In this way, the artist activates the past in order to confront the reality of racial conflict and violence that still persists in the United States today.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.