Kara Walker’s new work, including a 35-foot-tall sphinx covered in sugar, goes on view this Saturday at the Domino Sugar Refinery. Photo: Kara Walker/Creative Time
A portion of the old Domino Sugar Refinery will reopen this Saturday as an exhibition space for Kara Walker’s first major public project. Commissioned by Creative Time, Walker’s newest work is a commentary on the history of the sugar trade. The Domino installation marks a departure for Walker, a local contemporary artist best known for her collage art and black, cut-paper silhouettes. The centerpiece of her new site-specific exhibition is a super-sized polystyrene sphinx remade in the image of a nude, sugarcane field worker that’s been coated in processed sugar and stands over 35-feet high–it’s called A Subtlety. Irony aside, the exhibition, which is open to the public from 4-8pm on Fridays and from noon to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays, explores elements of sexuality, race, gender and identity that are common undertones in all of Walker’s work. Make sure to catch the confectionary art exhibit before it closes on July 6.
