Further Reading – 31 May 2014

+ VIEW: Currently on view outside of New York City in a defunct sugar refinery is the towering form of Kara Walker’s A Subtlety, subtitled or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant. In this work, Walker uses the historical narrative of sugar production and its connection to slavery to extend her longstanding focus on the dysfunctions generated by slavery in North America. Of the sculpture, Walker writes:

“Sugar crystallizes something in our American Soul. It is emblematic of all Industrial Processes. And of the idea of becoming white. White Being equated with pure and ‘true’ it takes a lot of energy to turn brown things into white things. A lot of pressure.”

– Kara Walker, 2014

The work, presented by Creative Time, is on view every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 6 July at the Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

+ READ: Earlier in the year I contributed an essay titled Eating Robert Gober’s Bag of Donuts to the Failure issue of art21 magazine. The article examines the question of failure when an art critic mistakes a sculpture for a free snack.

+ VISIT: Opening the 28th of June and running through September 21st, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane, Queensland will present Harvest, an exhibition and curated film program. The work in the show is drawn from the gallery’s collection ranging from traditional still life paintings to contemporary filmic works. The overarching themes of the show include globalisation and the impact of food production on communities. For further details, visit their website.