When: through March 11, 2018
At first, I wasn't really sure what I was looking at in this show. Walker's work is taking reproductions of 19th century texts and superimposing silhouettes of African-Americans on them. I was trying to make the text and original illustrations match up with the silhouettes and was really struggling to find a connection I was sure had to exist.
Then, as I read the wall notes in the second room, I realized that there is no connection. The silhouettes exist on their own, apart from what we have been told is the historical record. How could there be a connection, when the stories of African-Americans have been deliberately left out of the official descriptions of the Civil War?
The wall notes as you enter the show describe Walker as "...transform[ing] the genteel 18th century portrait medium into stark, haunting tableaux." To me, the work said, "Yes, you can learn all about various battles and generals, and how the Union Army eventually won enough victories to force the Confederate Army to surrender. But don't forget what this war was really about. And don't forget the people that some were willing to fight and die to keep in bondage."
Verdict: A powerful show - it packs a real punch.
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