Comprised of 15 large scale prints, Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) revisits the historical representations found in the two-volume anthology published in 1866, "Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War." Walker overlays enlargements of woodcut plates with her black silkscreen cutout figures in solid black silhouette. In doing so, Walker brings to light experiences of racism that were often omitted or merely hinted at in traditional historical narratives.
The touring presentation of Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) is organized by The Museum Box. The exhibition was curated by Lisa Hayes Williams, associate curator at the New Britain Museum of American Art where the show debuted in 2020.