Known for black paper cutout silhouettes, Kara Walker also does wall texts, and many of her images depict sex, bestiality, and sadism in what is intended as anti-racist parody. She is part of a generation of controversial African-American artists who deals with stereotypical black images in a confrontational way.

One of her prints tilted A Means to an End: A Shadow Drama in Five Acts, was pulled from a show in 1999 at the Detroit Institute of Arts because it was an antebellum plantation scene that offended some of the African-American artists.

In 2002, she was selected to represent the United States at the Sao Paulo Biennial, running from March 23 to June 2nd.

Walker was born in Stockton, California where...