TL;DR
- Artist Kara Walker has transformed a removed Confederate equestrian statue (of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson) into a new sculpture titled Unmanned Drone, now installed at The Brick in Los Angeles.
- The work is featured in the major exhibition Monuments, curated by Hamza Walker and Bennett Simpson, which pairs decommissioned Confederate statues with contemporary artworks to provoke reflection on public memory.
- The statue’s original form is dismantled, re-assembled in a fragmented, monstrous version; the title refers to the “drone”-like role of monuments and their use as instruments of power.
What is Unmanned Drone and how did it come about?
The sculpture Unmanned Drone arises from Walker’s re-working of the 13-ft high, 16-ft long bronze monument of Stonewall Jackson and his horse from Charlottesville, Virginia.
After its removal in 2021 amid racial-justice protest movements, the statue was given to the Los Angeles-based nonprofit The Brick, where Walker was commissioned to intervene.
Rather than simply destroying or hiding the monument, Walker dissected it—cutting, restructuring, re-imagining—into a distorted, liminal figure that foregrounds the violence and mythology embedded in it.
How has the piece been transformed and what are its features?
Walker’s version upends the original’s triumphant posture: the rider’s head is severed and placed on the horse’s snout, limbs hang at impossible angles, the horse and rider merge in disturbing ways.
The title “Unmanned Drone” works on multiple levels—it refers to unmanned aerial vehicles (remote instruments of force) and evokes how monuments function as silent weapons of ideology.
Installation takes place at The Brick, Los Angeles (and part of the “Monuments” show paired with works at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) from October 23, 2025 through April 11, 2026.
Why does this sculpture matter now?
- It addresses the ongoing national debate about public monuments, racial memory, and what societies choose to commemorate.
- Walker’s method—transforming the statue rather than destroying it—offers a third path between oblivion and preservation, posing questions about monumentality, legacy and re-vision.
- The work anchors a broader exhibition that situates historical relics alongside contemporary responses, inviting viewers to engage with the past’s impact on the present.
