Kara Walker and Jason Moran pay tribute to enslaved Africans
Kara Walker and Jason Moran created a mobile monument to slavery with Katastwóf Karavan (2018), a steam powered calliope that paid tribute to enslaved Africans in America.
For its initial presentation at the Prospect.4 triennial in New Orleans, the work was placed and activated on the bank of the Mississippi River at Algiers Point, a site where Africans arrived to be sold into slavery in the 1700s.
“As a stationary object, it always needs to be activated,” explains Walker. “When you have monuments or commemorative things that just exist, they sit there and they disappear.”
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Celebrating ten years of New York Close Up
Production still from the New York Close Up film, A Brief History of Shana Moulton & Whispering Pines, 2011. © Art21, Inc. 2011.
Ten years ago this week—on June 13, 2011—we cut the ribbon on our second-ever digital series, New York Close Up, dedicated to profiling early career artists living and working in New York City.
The series opened with a double feature: Kalup Linzy & James Franco, That’s Entertainment! and A Brief History of Shana Moulton & Whispering Pines.
To date, the series has profiled over 40 artists across over 100 films, including Rashid Johnson, Diana Al-Hadid, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jacolby Satterwhite, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Keltie Ferris, Mika Rottenberg, Lucas Blalock, Mika Tajima, and Firelei Báez, among others.
Among the honors for New York Close Up are a Webby Award nomination, multiple Vimeo Staff Picks, and over 75 acceptances at film festivals worldwide including BlackStar, DC Shorts, DOC NYC, and Outfest Fusion.
Watch over 100 films from New York Close Up.
Recommendations from Art21 staff
Visit: Guadalupe Maravilla: Planeta Abuelx at Socrates Sculpture Park
For those near and around New York City this summer, I recommend visiting Socrates Sculpture Park and checking out the new solo installation by artist Guadalupe Maravilla. This Sunday, the park will host its summer solstice festival, including a healing sound bath performance by Guadalupe. What better way to celebrate this summer, and what we’ve lived through, than healing on the longest day of the year? Take care, everybody!
Shared by Lolita Fierro, Director of Development; Guadalupe Maravilla: Planeta Abuelx is now on view at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, New York
