I Pose for Kara Walker
When I was in college at the New School I wrote a paper on Kara Walker, the prolific and controversial artist whose work my teacher took me to see at the Brooklyn Museum. I was deeply fascinated by her images then, as I am now and I recently went to see her new show at the Whitney Museum. The woman is a genius.
Now I’m not really posing for Kara Walker, which if you seen her work wouldn’t even sound that likely. An old college friend (I stared in her one act play) having seen my new and awesome facebook photo, called me up, and asked if I wanted to pose for her thesis project. And who happens to be on her thesis committee other than Kara Walker. (I tried not to sound like too star struck, but I believe I said something embarrassing to the effect of “So you mean Kara is going to see me in a photo!”)
The photographs are likely to be as provocative and polemicized as to be expected. She explained to me that as the only black woman in her program at Columbia she shied away from presenting projects at school with images and artwork dealing with race and sexuality. It was just too much of a hassle to open Pandora’s box. Now with her final project ready to make the audience uncomfortable if she has to; to do what needs to be done to express her artistic vision regardless of what her peers may think or feel.
Walker said to my friend, “I expect you to impress me,” there is no doubt in my mind that she’ll be able to step up to the challenge.
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