An artist in New York City who has addressed similar social justice themes is Kara Walker. Her massive installation A Subtlety (also called the “Sugar Baby”), which was shown at the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn, directly confronted the history of slavery, exploitation, and the sugar trade. Walker used the industrial space and the decaying factory walls to force viewers to face the racial and economic violence that shaped those industries. Like Kaphar, she didn’t erase history, she exposed the parts people usually avoid looking at, especially the uncomfortable truths about race and power in America. Her work sparked huge conversations in NYC and made people think about whose stories get remembered and whose get ignored, which ties perfectly into the themes Kaphar raises in his talk. 

Keith Haring is a NYC artist who rose to fame in the 1980s with his simple, but unique style in the graffiti scene. He would draw these human figures and lines in just seconds in the subway and on the streets. Although these art pieces may seem just simple and vague, Keith Haring was very prominent in fighting social injustices in his drawings. He combatted Aids, Homophobia, Racism, Apartheid, Drug abuse, the Berlin Wall and etc. However, he is most known as an important figure in the Aids Crisis in the 1980s, with him passing away from Aids himself in the year 1990.

– Donobant Sarmiento

When doing research about these artists I found out about Kara Walker. Walker and her work interest me because it focuses on violence and racism in American history that Black Americans had to go through during the history of the United States. She does this by installing massive silhouettes in different places. One of her most famous is “A Subtlety” installation in Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Factory which was in 2014. This also caught my eye because I live nearby and I never knew of this, and it looks pretty amazing it see in person.

Jan Czartoryjski

“Gun Violence Eagle”- Otto Schade

Otto Schade is a Chilean artist who has created murals about various social justice issues. Some of these issues include systemic racism, war, power, and environmental concerns. This specific piece was a collaboration in which he created this mural on the wall in Chinatown. The eagle’s wings are made up of guns opposed to feathers, and it is holding a rocket colored with the colors of the American flag. Although anyone can be a victim of gun violence, this specific piece is directed towards the systematic and human cost, calling for changes in policy. The claws’ strong grip exemplifies the irony of how connected America is to guns and conflict, and how people can be controlled. Since it is a mural in a public space, its audience is the public, and anyone could see it walking by which increases its outreach. Another aspect of the mural is the statement in red on the bottom, stating “Who’s next?”, very directly stating that anyone could be a victim of gun violence if nothing changes, regardless of how powerful they are. The glowing yellow background behind the eagle creates contrast which again, emphasizes the eagle and central message. 

Siyan Wong is a New York City based artist whose subjects are the working poor, the homeless, women and the elderly. One of her projects is called “Five Cents a Can: Making Visible the Invisible”, which raises questions about migration, inequality, aging among individuals who are poor and Asian (more specifically canners). She started painting the canners after encountering the same elderly Chinese lady going through garbage in the back of her apartment building every Saturday morning. When she befriended her, Siyan discovered that Choi Yi, the elderly Chinese lady, is 93 years old, has four children and many grand-children, and used to work in garment factories until they closed in Chinatown. She lives in the public housing near Siyan and takes pride and work. The resilience of the canners inspired Siyan to question whether one should be aging with such hard work for bare survival, when many people are living in comfortable luxury.

– Fiona Wong

Ai Weiwei’s installation on Roosevelt Island, inspired by FDR’s Four Freedoms, uses a wooden frame draped in camouflage to question what is protected and what truth is hidden (also resembles the battlefield). In an age of conflict, even innocent animals—especially those close to humans—suffer silently. His work reimagines the freedoms of speech, religion, want, and fear, reminding us how fragile they remain. Echoing the saying “Кому війна, кому мати рідна”—for some, war is war; for others, it is profit. Ai forces us to confront how easily humanity is sacrificed for gain. Asking whose gain is worth the cost, and how much must be lost before we see the truth.

-Mark Eisenberger

Kara Walker is a present-day American artist known for her use of her powerful black-paper silhouettes that show themes of race, gender, violence, and power in American history. She has shown her work in New York City at major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn. One of her most talked-about projects is “A Subtlety (2014)” which was a huge, sugar-coated sculpture of a Black woman placed inside the abandoned Domino Sugar Factory. Through this piece, Walker confronted the painful history of both slavery and the sugar trade, exposing how exploitation and racism were connected to everyday products and labor. Her work in New York uses powerful images and artistic aspects to make people think about the injustices that still exist today from America’s past.

One artist who really stood out to me is Ben Shahn, a Jewish American artist whose work often focused on justice, equality, and human rights. What I found most interesting is how he used painting and photography to speak up for people who didn’t have a voice, like immigrants, workers, and victims of war. I like that Shahn shows that social justice art doesn’t have to be loud or shocking.