“Come see the sphinx made entirely of sugar!!”

Sounds like a proclamation straight from the era of P.T. Barnum side-show acts, right?

Well I guarantee you it’s not. Although many may go to see Kara Walker’s “A Subtlety” just based on the novelty of a gargantuan confection, the exhibit is much more than that. So much more in fact, that those that who view the artist’s latest work solely to see a large sugar sculpture may encounter a covert history lesson in the process.

The now defunct Domino sugar refinery plant in Brooklyn serves as a fitting venue for Kara Walker’s latest art installation dedicated to, as it says in the title, “the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World.” Translation: the Afro-Caribbean workers on whose blood and backs the sugar industry (past and present) has thrived on. The sugar industry’s role in the exploitation of the indigenous Caribbean population and its inseparably intertwined history with the rise of the trans-Atlantic slave trade is something many people know, but is rarely thought about as one sweetens their morning cup of coffee or tea.

But Walker is no stranger to tackling controversial topics. Many of her past pieces focus on poverty and race, and are delivered in a manner so strikingly close to the issue it portrays that the term satire no longer suffices (e.g. her use of 18th century style silhouettes to depict the violent acts of slavery). This time is no different. Utilizing subtleties, artisan crafted sugar-based centerpieces usually featured in feasts, in a sugar factory to comment on the dark history of the industry itself sends a message both melancholy and profound.

An overwhelming aroma of burnt sugar is the first thing you encounter upon approaching the refinery plant. The mood shifts. It’s actually quite amazing, as people who were once chatty during the wait in line instantly become quite reverent upon entering. The factory is essentially bare with a look of abandonment that implies a wrecking ball could come through at any given moment …a contrast to the stories from workers who recalled never seeing the floor due to piles of sugar during the factory’s active state.

Scattered around the factory floor are several pleasantly poised life size figurines of young boys molded from brown sugar, merrily holding baskets or bananas. They often stand in sticky pools of their own melted sweetness. Their jovial cherubic faces, distorted by the uncontrolled climate within the factory, and baskets, which often look as if they hold pieces of their fallen brethren, serve as not-so-gentle reminders of the child workforce commonly employed to harvest sugar cane.

At the far end of the factory the masterpiece looms in the distance, growing as you approach. The 35-foot tall, 75-foot long sphinx made entirely of bleached sugar seems to glow in the surrounding light. She stands alone, almost shrine like. Also known as “the marvelous sugar baby”, the sphinx’s appearance, including obviously black facial features, adorned kerchief, and extremely detailed voluptuous figure harkens back to the days of the “mammy” caricature. She looks as if she alone birthed and sustained the labor force of the sugar industry. Much like the puzzle that the sphinx in mythology poses to those who encounter it, Walker’s sugar baby speaks to the ever discussed sexual aspect of black womanhood which is a topic of reverence, perversion, or perplexity depending on the day of the week.

Drawing a mix of emotions, I’m sure each person who visits the exhibit has their own take on its meaning. Some come purely to marvel at the gigantic confection, a sight to behold just based on dimensions alone. Some recognize the painful memories and a call to awareness that the piece evokes. Others feel that Walker takes advantage of a provocative subject and overt sexual image just to draw attention to her art.

I personally feel that Walker’s exhibit speaks upon the dark past that surrounds many of our consumables, often founded upon the unrewarded sweat and lives of the poverty stricken workers who make it possible. However every trace of turmoil is scrubbed clean and goes unrecognized by the time it reaches us, the consumer; much like the refining process that sugar cane itself undergoes to become the white granulated substance commonplace in households around the world.

Regardless, everyone should gaze upon the marvelous sugar baby and draw their own conclusions. Some of which may be bittersweet.

Kara Walker’s “A Subtlety” will be open until July 6, 2014. For detailed information regarding hours and location visit http://creativetime.org/projects/karawalker/

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