no world
- Created by
- Walker, Kara, American, born 1969
- Date
- 2010
- Medium
- ink on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W: 30 3/8 × 39 3/4 in. (77.2 × 101 cm)
- Caption
- The work of Kara Walker is as at once seductive, beautiful, provocative, and polarizing. She is best known for her use of the artistic convention of the Victorian silhouette to create images that skim the boundaries between the real and imaginary in the cultural minefield of sexual exploitation, slavery, and race.
- no world is one of six prints created for the series An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters. The title, no world, plays on the concept of the United States as a "New World," or a place of new beginnings for the majority of those who have immigrated to its shores. For the ship’s African cargo, this "New World" is not a place of hope, but rather a destination of pain, struggle, and lifelong bondage.
- Description
- A black and white etching print with grey tones that depicts a scene of a drowning figure's hands holding a ship up above the waves of water. The rest of the figure is unseen beneath the surface. To the right, a Black female figure struggles face down under the water. To the left are two small silhouetted figures standing on the shore, one on the left resembling a slave owner and one on the right depicting an enslaved person. The enslaved figure is presenting a cornstalk to the other. Behind the ship, clouds part to reveal a black sky. There are two handwritten inscriptions beneath the print: in the bottom left corner is the print edition, "XXI/XXV" and in the bottom right corner is the artist's signature: "KW 2010." There are no marks or inscriptions on the verso.
- Portfolio/Series
- An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Type
- etchings
- Topic
- African diaspora
- Art
- Colonialism
- Middle Passage
- Slavery
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2014.130.7
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Kara Walker
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.