The cover image of this issue of Artkrush is a detail of a still from Kara Walker's 2007 video installation ...calling to me from the angry surface of some grey and threatening sea. I was transported. The work is featured in the Venice Biennale international exhibition Think with the Senses — Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense, curated by Robert Storr.

The artist's animations in the Italian Pavilion include her signature motif: solid black silhouettes of slaves in the antebellum American South. On one wall, videos portray a twisted and violent tale of a mother and her handicapped young son, who hobbles on crutches. Nearby, a montage depicting old photographs of slaves is projected into the shape of a raggedly cut hole, compelling viewers to peer back at a brutal chapter in American history.

Walker, born in central California in 1969, earned her MFA at RISD in 1994. Since graduating, she has had solo exhibitions across the US as well as international exhibitions at the Deutsche Guggenheim, the 25th International São Paulo Biennial, and the Tate Liverpool. In May 2007, Walker was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World. The retrospective Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love, which began at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, is currently on view at ARC/Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
(HGM)