Kara Walker, “Unmanned Drone,” 2023. Commissioned by the Brick, courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Malloy Jenkins. (Photo: Ruben Diaz)
In 1921, an equestrian statue of “Stonewall” Jackson was unveiled beside the Albemarle County Courthouse in Charlottesville, VA. A century later, in 2021, the Confederate monument was toppled and subsequently deeded to the world-renowned artist Kara Walker. She was tasked with reimagining the 13-foot-tall statue, to transform its original myth into a searing examination of American history. Now, the final product has been unveiled.
Headlining MOCA and the Brick’s newest exhibition, Monuments, Walker’s Unmanned Drone is something of a chimera. The sculpture is mangled, with both human and horse limbs organized into a confusing, haunting spectacle. Despite being dissected and reshuffled, Unmanned Drone is still legible, weaving an entirely new fate for its Confederate soldier. In Walker’s rendition, Jackson doesn’t charge into battle, perched atop his horse while valiantly jutting out his chest. Rather, he has been subjected to a beheading, dragging himself through a strange purgatory with his centaur-like legs. Beside him, his sword dangles onto the ground, a visual reminder of the status he once had and has since lost.
Walker has long been fascinated by themes of racial identity, especially within the context of the Civil War era in the American South. Unmanned Drone, though, may be the artist’s most ambitious foray into the subject, seeing her literally dissect a historic monument to white supremacy. That weight isn’t lost on Walker, who has remarked upon the significance of butchery within her creative process.
“I read about [Jackson’s] horse, which is a major part of the dynamism of the piece,” Walker said in a catalog interview with Hamza Walker, director of the Brick. “I was thinking that, in some regards, this act of reclaiming the sculpture required an act of butchery.”
Unmanned Drone is as much a butchering as a rectification. As Walker noted during a preview for Monuments, creating the sculpture offered a space to meditate upon such Confederate statues and the power, values, and myths they have carried throughout history—and, in return, a moment to redefine all of that. “There’s a healing aspect to doing this show, I think,” she said.
That’s precisely the thesis guiding Monuments, which brings together 10 decommissioned monuments with newly commissioned and existing works by 19 contemporary artists. The exhibition, which has been in development since 2017, considers how contested objects are perceived today, while also exploring the functions of monuments in the past, present, and future.
“Encountering the monuments indoors—removed from their pedestals, some bearing traces of protest, and installed among contemporary works—provides a significant shift in context for the objects,” Bennett Simpson, senior curator at MOCA, said in a statement. “We believe it is important to speak openly about their circumstances and intended function. And we considered our mission-driven organizations as good locations for the task—to grapple with changes in contemporary aesthetics and historical memory alike.”
Monuments is now on view at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA through May 3, 2026. Learn more about Unmanned Drone and the exhibition via MOCA’s website.
With Unmanned Drone, Kara Walker has unveiled a haunting and poignant reimagining of a toppled Confederate monument.
(Left) Stonewall Jackson sculpture by Charles Keck (1875–1956); (Right) “Unmanned Drone” by Kara Walker (b. 1969) (Photo: Ruben Diaz)
“Unmanned Drone,” 2023. (Photo: Ruben Diaz)
“Unmanned Drone,” 2023. (Photo: Ruben Diaz)
“Unmanned Drone,” 2023. (Photo: Ruben Diaz)
“Unmanned Drone,” 2023. (Photo: Ruben Diaz)
Unmanned Drone is featured in Monuments, a new exhibition co-organized by MOCA and the Brick, now on view through May 3, 2026, in Los Angeles.
Preliminary installation view of “Monuments” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the Brick, Los Angeles. (Photo: Stefanie Keenan)
Preliminary installation view of “Monuments” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the Brick, Los Angeles. (Photo: Stefanie Keenan)
Preliminary installation view of “Monuments” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the Brick, Los Angeles. (Photo: Stefanie Keenan)
Preliminary installation view of “Monuments” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the Brick, Los Angeles. (Photo: Stefanie Keenan)
Preliminary installation view of “Monuments” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the Brick, Los Angeles. (Photo: Stefanie Keenan)
Preliminary installation view of “Monuments” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the Brick, Los Angeles. (Photo: Stefanie Keenan)
Exhibition Information:
Monuments
October 23, 2025–May 3, 2026
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 N Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
MOCA: Website | Instagram
The Brick: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by MOCA.
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