Art / “Project 2 Kara Walker”. At the  National Gallery until February 5. Reviewed by BARRINA SOUTH

KARA Walker is a leading African-American artist whose work is on show for the first time in Australia.

You  don’t know her name? You will after visiting her current show at the National Art Gallery, “Project 2 Kara Walker.”

Walker is prominent artist whose provocative style brings together a variety of mediums, including the use of black cut-paper silhouettes, to discuss sexuality, gender, race and identity.

As I enter the dim exhibition space, there is a feeling of discomfort. I am confronted by the graphically striking works featuring overt stereotypes,  some in violent and sexual situations.

But that is exactly what Walker wants, to shock the viewer to feel and think.

For the first time, the visitor can view the gallery’s two major new acquisitions of Walker’s work, a film, “Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions,” 2004, and a monumental mixed-media drawing, “Your World is About to Change,” 2019.

Through these two works, Walker lays bare the racist systems, images and stories that accompany colonisation focused on the slave system that brought people from Africa to the US.

Alongside these two major works is a selection of works curated by the artist exclusively for the National Gallery.

After leaving the exhibition, I found myself revisiting Walker’s imagery. That is the strength of Walker’s work, by laying out such complex themes in black and white this urges the gallery visitor to begin a journey of understanding and reflection.

If you are new to Walker’s work, I suggest viewing the video on the NGA website which provides information on her art practice before you visit the exhibition.

The exhibition is part of the NGA’s Contemporary Project Series supporting the work of living artists and demonstrates the National Gallery’s commitment to the art of today and is a “Know My Name” project.