Kara Walker’s “Unmanned Drone” Reimagines Confederate Monuments in Provocative New Exhibition
A powerful new exhibition, “MONUMENTS,” now on view at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and The Brick in Los Angeles through May 3, 2026, demonstrates how artists can grapple with complex historical issues long after the initial news cycle has faded. The show, highlighted by a striking work from Kara Walker, offers a nuanced exploration of Confederate monuments and their enduring legacy.
The impulse for museums to directly address contemporary events gained traction after 2017, but the inherent timelines of institutional exhibitions – often years in the making – frequently clash with the rapid pace of modern news. This disconnect can leave even well-intentioned shows feeling dated. However, “MONUMENTS” proves that a thoughtful, long-term approach can yield profound results, particularly when paired with a compelling group of artists.
The exhibition juxtaposes decommissioned monuments, many of which honored Confederate figures, with newly commissioned works from a diverse roster of artists including Bethany Collins, Abigail DeVille, Karon Davis, Stan Douglas, Kahlil Robert Irving, Cauleen Smith, Kevin Jerome Everson, Walter Price, Monument Lab, Davóne Tines and Julie Dash, alongside Walker herself. These artists, according to observers, have dedicated significantly more time and consideration to these issues than many of the voices that initially dominated the public conversation.
Walker’s Provocative Intervention
Kara Walker, known for her explorations of race, gender, and power – notably her 2014 installation A Subtlety at the Domino Sugar Factory – also serves as a co-curator for “MONUMENTS.” Her contribution, Unmanned Drone (2023), encapsulates the exhibition’s central thesis. The sculpture is constructed from a former equestrian statue of “Stonewall” Jackson, originally dedicated in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1921 and removed in 2021.
Walker’s reimagining is described as astounding, merging Jackson with his horse, Little Sorrel, in a way that is both unsettling and revealing. The horse’s snout protrudes from between the general’s legs, creating a distorted and fragmented form. “In Drone, Jackson feels like he’s disappearing,” one analyst noted, “his hand on the ground, his own empty pants pointed in the wrong direction and open so you can see how hollow they are.” Walker herself described her work as a “violent remix,” appropriate for a figure who attempted to inflict violence on the nation. The artist extends this concept to the medium itself, suggesting that a statue celebrating a historical loser inherently lacks merit.
Beyond Walker: Diverse Perspectives on Memory and Memorialization
The exhibition extends beyond Walker’s powerful statement, showcasing a range of artistic responses to the complexities of memorialization. Bethany Collins has engraved the base of the former Jackson statue with Carolina rose petals, a poignant reference to the flowers formerly enslaved people used to commemorate a Union soldier prison camp on the first Memorial Day in 1865.
Other works engage with these themes in more indirect ways. Kevin Jerome Everson’s film Practice, Practice, Practice (2024) profiles activist Richard Bradley, who in 1984 scaled a 40-foot pole dressed as a Union soldier to dismantle a Confederate flag outside San Francisco’s Civic Center. Kahlil Robert Irving’s New Nation (States) Battle of Manassas – 2014 (2024-25) presents three bronze tabletop sculptures derived from thousands of images of St. Louis County, commemorating sites of violence against Black people and the protests that followed, specifically referencing the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Ultimately, the artists featured in “MONUMENTS” offer innovative approaches to how we conceive of and construct memorials. Eschewing grandiose, monolithic statues, they favor more nuanced and conceptually rich works that more effectively convey complex ideas than traditional monuments ever could.
