In 2016, a high school student in Charlottesville, Virginia, initiated a petition to remove several statues from public view, including Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and Thomas Jefferson. These monuments, commissioned by businessman Paul Goodloe McIntire in the early 20th century, were perceived as glorifying figures who promoted Manifest Destiny and supported slavery, serving as symbols of white supremacy.
Following the approval by the Charlottesville city council to remove some statues, a lawsuit was filed by counterprotestors to prevent their removal. The situation escalated in 2017 during a Unite the Right rally, resulting in a tragic incident where a man drove his vehicle into a crowd, causing fatalities and injuries. Despite this, the statues remained in place until the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, catalyzed by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, reignited the debate on a national scale.
In July 2021, exactly 100 years after their unveiling, Charlottesville finally removed the statues of Lee and Jackson. Lee’s statue was melted down, while Jackson’s was gifted to artist Kara Walker through the Los Angeles nonprofit The Brick. As part of the exhibition MONUMENTS, Walker reimagined the statue as a powerful symbol of transformation.
Known for her work that confronts symbols and stereotypes of racism, Walker’s previous monumental piece “A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby” challenged racist interpretations of Southern Black women. Similarly, her reimagining of Jackson’s statue, titled “Unmanned Drone,” dissects the original sculpture by Charles Keck into a haunting composition that reflects on the Civil War era.
Curated by Hamza Walker, The Brick has been collecting decommissioned Confederate monuments from across the U.S. The recontextualization of Jackson’s statue into “Unmanned Drone” represents a shift from harm to healing, offering a surreal reflection on the intertwining of history and legend. Through this artwork, Walker explores the relationship between past and present, challenging the mythological narratives often associated with memorial statues.
The exhibition MONUMENTS, hosted at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and The Brick in Los Angeles, pairs historical monuments with contemporary artists to engage with the complex and evolving histories post-Civil War. Running until May 3, the show invites viewers to contemplate the layered narratives embedded in these monuments and their relevance in today’s society.
