Figa

Kara Walker’s (b. 1969) Figa, a sculpture monumental in both size and symbol, was installed at the DESTE Foundation’s Hydra Slaughterhouse in 2017. Once a part of Walker’s colossal 2014 installation A Subtlety at the Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn, Figa is made up of the hand piece from the anamorphic sphinx that gestures a “fig sign,” at once both a symbol of fertility and a “fuck you.” In making a return to the site of the Sugar Factory work and the work’s progeny in Hydra, this book offers critical insight on A Subtlety and Figa. Through extensive photographic documentation of the installation of the hand sculpture in Hydra by Ari Marcopoulos and seven fables written by Walker illustrating the power of folklore, mythology and black identity across the history of the United States, Figa in book form captures the blockbuster exhibition in two parts.

Edited by Karen Marta

Preface by Dakis Joannou

Introduction and text by Kara Walker

• Hardcover: 88 pages
• Publisher: DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art (May 21, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 618503932X
• ISBN-13: 9786185039325
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.8 x 9.8 inches