kara walker: “a subtlety, or the marvelous sugar baby” | “exclusive” | art21

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This episode provides an in-depth look at the creation of Kara Walker’s monumental public project, A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby (2014), at the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn, NY. Seated in her Manhattan studio, Walker explains how the molasses-covered space, along with her extensive research into the history of sugar, inspired her to create a colossal sugar-coated sphinx, as well as a series of life-sized, sugar and resin boy figurines. A team of artists and fabricators are shown constructing and coating the sphinx, which, as Walker says, gains its power by “upsetting expectations, one after the other.” Commissioned by Creative Time, A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby is the first large-scale public project by Walker who is best known for her cut paper silhouette installations, drawings, and watercolors. A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby is on view until July 6, 2014. Thereafter, the factory will be demolished to make way for condominiums.