the secret sharerer

Currently not on view

the secret sharerer

2010

Kara Walker (American, born 1969) Printed by Burnet Editions, New York

Throughout the series An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters, Walker manipulates broad expanses of aquatint tone to create silhouettes, an intentional reference to the popular nineteenth-century cut-paper art form. This cut-paper technique has served as a primary medium for the artist, in addition to her prints, drawings, and films, many of which incorporate silhouetted imagery. In this print, Walker uses layers of tone to form both stark profiles, as seen in the couple featured in the foreground, and subtle figures, such as the one hidden in the blackest shadows to the right. The contrast of the flat aquatint silhouettes with areas of brilliant white paper further accentuates opposing themes of pleasure, pain, passion, and betrayal.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Titles:

the secret sharerer
From the series An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters

Date:

2010

Artists:

Kara Walker (American, born 1969) Printed by Burnet Editions, New York

Medium:

Etching, lift-ground and spit-bite aquatint, and drypoint

Dimensions:

Plate: 23 7/8 x 23 13/16 inches (60.6 x 60.5 cm) Sheet: 30 1/4 x 27 3/4 inches (76.8 x 70.5 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Marion Stroud Fund for Contemporary Art on Paper, 2010

Accession Number:

2010-142-4

Geography:

Printed in New York, New York, United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view