ATLANTA, GA.- The High Museum of Art in Atlanta today announced that it has acquired “The Jubilant Martyrs of Obsolescence and Ruin” (2015), a massive cut-paper work by contemporary artist Kara Walker (American, born 1969). This acquisition marks the first major work by Walker to enter the Museum’s collection.
A former Georgia resident who studied at the Atlanta College of Art, Walker is renowned for her cut-paper silhouette installations that explore themes of race, gender, sexuality and violence. “The Jubilant Martyrs of Obsolescence and Ruin,” which is nearly 60 feet wide, is based on the Confederate Memorial Carving on the face of Georgia’s Stone Mountain. In the work, Walker uses caustic, satirical imagery to reconcile the history of oppression and injustice experienced by African-Americans in the South with the persistence of racial and gender stereotypes and ongoing efforts to advance equality in America.
This important acquisition continues the High’s commitment to collecting artwork that explores the history of the American South and examines intersections of race, identity, human rights and social justice. It joins two print portfolios by Walker already in the Museum’s collection.
“We are honored to acquire this major work by one of today’s most significant and influential artists,” said Rand Suffolk, the High’s Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., director. “Like all of Walker’s work, this piece profoundly questions the resonance of our collective past while challenging us to consider what exactly will determine a shared future. These questions remain greatly important. The High is proud to play a role in encouraging dialogue around this work and the compelling perspectives it brings to light.”
“We are grateful to Kara Walker and to Victoria Miro Gallery for making this epic work available to the High and for the tremendous outpouring of support from the community to make this acquisition possible,” said Michael Rooks, the High’s Wieland Family curator of modern and contemporary art.
In addition to those of the three Confederate Civil War leaders portrayed in the Stone Mountain carving, Walker incorporated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s likeness into “The Jubilant Martyrs.” The exquisite lines of her hand-cut paper silhouettes speak to centuries of vernacular art tradition in the United States and Europe. An artist would render a person’s silhouette by cutting black paper to make a keepsake profile portrait. Walker’s images evoke the nostalgic reverie of such traditional silhouettes and use devices including humor and caricature to provoke reflection on notions of race and identity in America.
According to Walker, “The thing that has fueled my work since I started is this misremembered history, or a kind of flawed refashioning of history spelled out along deeply personal terms.”
“The Jubilant Martyrs of Obsolescence and Ruin” will go on view as part of a permanent collection reinstallation planned for 2018.
