Kara Walker: Cut to the Quick 

July 23–October 10, 2021 | Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN 

(Traveling exhibition 2021-2023)

Organized by William Morrow, Director of Exhibitions, Schnitzer Family Foundation; Susan Edwards, Director Frist Museum of Art, Nashville, TN; and Ciona Rouse, Nashville based poet

A leading artist of her generation, Kara Walker (b. 1969) works in a range of mediums, including prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture, film, and the large-scale silhouette cutouts for which she is perhaps most recognized. Her powerful and provocative images employ contradictions to critique the painful legacies of slavery, sexism, violence, imperialism, and other power structures, including those in the history and hierarchies of art and contemporary culture. This exhibition offers a broad overview of her career through more than 80 works from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. Some highlights of the exhibition are the complete Emancipation Approximation series and images from the Porgy & Bess series. Walker’s process involves extensive research in history, literature, art history, and popular culture. Intentionally unsentimental and ambiguous, the works can be disturbing while also utilizing satire and humor, always exploring the irreconcilable inconsistencies that mirror the human condition. The exhibition originated at the Frist Art Museum and traveled to four other museums.

A full-color, 16-page brochure was published in conjunction with this exhibition. 

EXHIBITION TOUR

July 23-Oct 10, 2021 Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN

Nov 5--Jan 17, 2022 Cincinnati Art Museum, OH

May 20-Sept 25, 2022 Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL 

March 9-June 24, 2023 Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA

Sept 6-Dec 9, 2023 USC Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA