In a thought-provoking move, curator Hamza Walker acquired the decommissioned monument of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson from Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2021. After navigating the complexities of its relocation, he transported it to a New Jersey warehouse, where he extended an invitation to renowned artist Kara Walker to reinterpret the monument at a foundry in upstate New York.
Kara Walker has been exploring the darker aspects of American history since the 1990s, using art to unveil the underlying violence often masked by historical narratives. Her latest work, Unmanned Drone (2023), is a striking 12-foot sculpture that fuses the figure of Jackson with his horse, Little Sorrel. This compelling piece is currently on display at the Brick in Los Angeles through May 3, as part of the exhibition "Monuments," co-hosted by the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. Walker's creation serves as a powerful counter to federal efforts aimed at restoring Confederate monuments, asserting that the past cannot simply be reinstated: We can't put it back like it was.
Walker's contribution to this spring issue of Art in America, titled Little Sorrel's Sorry Saga (Who Else?) (2023-25), is an ink drawing that reflects her preparatory work for Unmanned Drone. In both interpretations, Jackson is depicted not merely as a horseman but as a grotesque hybrid, evoking the four horsemen of the apocalypse while also critiquing the myths surrounding the Civil War. The imagery reveals a figure of horror rather than heroism, with Jackson's sword dragging low--a striking metaphor for the burdens of history.
The title of Walker's piece references Jackson's famed little red horse, a creature that outlived the general and many Civil War veterans, passing away in 1886. This historical nod emphasizes that the legacies of that era continue to resonate today.
