Kara Walker’s “African Boy Attendant Curio”
Through October 18, 2015
The Brooklyn Museum
Elevator Lobby, 5th Floor
Kara Walker: “African Boy Attendant Curio (Bananas)” presents a new resin-cast version of one of the sculptures that accompanied A Subtlety, Walker’s 2014 project at the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. At Domino, a nearly forty-foot-tall sugar-coated sculpture of a black woman, a hybrid sphinx-mammy, was accompanied by attendants made out of sugar and corn syrup that melted dramatically over time. In this installation, a permanent version of one attendant, a black boy carrying a bushel of bananas, is presented alongside sugar-related objects from our collection.
Together with sugar bowls and other items, the figure highlights the impact on material culture of the triangular trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and the enslaved people whose bodies and labor were the foundation of the sugar industry.
Kara Walker: “African Boy Attendant Curio (Bananas)” is organized by Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum.
Directions:
Subway: Seventh Avenue express (2 or 3) to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum stop; Lexington Avenue express (4 or 5) to Nevins Street, cross platform and transfer to the 2 or 3. Bus: B41, B69, B48.On-site parking available.
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