The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
The Means to an End...A Shadow Drama in Five Acts: The Beginning
1995
(American, b. 1969)
published by
Sheet: 88.5 x 59.2 cm (34 13/16 x 23 5/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1999.93.a
© Kara Walker
Location: not on view
Description
In the 1990s, American artist Kara Walker became well-known for using the visual language of the silhouette—an historic form of portraiture popular during the time of slavery in the United States—to create large wall murals featuring imaginary stories of the antebellum South. Her stories are based on stereotypes of plantation life from novels like Gone with the Wind, but with disturbing or unresolved storylines. This group of etchings functions as one story, titled sheet by sheet like chapters in a historical romance novel: “The Beginning,” “The Hunt,” “The Chase,” “The Plunge,” and “The End.” Designed to provoke viewers, Walker’s work has induced powerful responses. Walker herself has said, “Challenging and highlighting abusive power dynamics in our culture is my goal; replicating them is not.”- New Narratives: Contemporary Works on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2023-April 14, 2024).The Cleveland Museum of Art (1/26/2014 - 5/18/2014); "Our Stories: African American Prints and Drawings"Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 229): May 5, 2009 - September 11, 2009.
- {{cite web|title=The Means to an End...A Shadow Drama in Five Acts: The Beginning|url=false|author=Kara Walker, Landfall Press|year=1995|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.93.a