A Subtlety

The Domino Sugar Refinery site is owned by real estate developer Two Trees, and the bulk of the facility had been slated for demolition as part of the redevelopment. Ann Pasternak, the president of Creative Time, reached out to Jed Walentas, both a Two Trees employee and a board member of Creative Time about a show on the site.[1] Creative Time approached Walker roughly a year before the exhibition.[2] Creative Time selected Walker both because "[they] had been trying to get her to sign on to a public artwork for many years" and due to "the obvious historic connections between her work and the site".[1] Walker was attracted to the project in part because of the plant's history and the evidence of the work done there, such as molasses still covering the facility's walls.

Creative Time and Walker kept details about the project secret from the press. Production required several months of work and a team of more than 30.

Walker first sketched a drawing of the sphinx, which was passed onto a production team.[3] This team created a physical mock-up of the sphinx and uploaded a 3D version to manipulate using a computer. Upon completion, the sphinx was approximately 75 feet long and 35 feet tall, and was constructed from 330 polystyrene blocks donated by the Insulation Corporation of America. Domino Sugar donated roughly 162,000 pounds (approximately 80 tons) for the sphinx's "skin". The team used roughly half the donated sugar, and applied it to the underlying structure by hand and shovel.[4] The polystyrene was recycled after the exhibit was closed, though the sugar was not.

The blackamoors were based on ceramic figurines found by Walker on Amazon.com and were enlarged and altered for the show. Five of the fifteen were made of solid sugar. The remaining ten, five holding baskets with bananas and five with baskets held on their backs, were first built from sugar as well. However, they collapsed under the heat, and were replaced with versions made of resin and coated in a layer of molasses.[3] Each statue weighed between 300 and 500 pounds.[3]

Although an impressive undertaking, A Subtlety was received with varying opinions. Jamilah King, writing for Color Lines said "...it's reassuring that so many white people have a vested – or at least passing – interest in consuming art that deals with race. At the same time I found it unsettling to view art by a black artist about racism in an audience that's mostly white."[10] This audience caused a major aspect of this controversial piece as they posted insensitive posts including "...jokes about the sphinx’s vagina or gag pictures where the subject pretends to pinch [the sphinx's] ass"[11] as well as a general insensitivity by those in the audience not found at other sites commemorating tragedies, such as the September 11 Memorial.[12] After the close of the exhibit, Walker said that she had anticipated such reactions.[11]

Betye Saar stated she "felt the work of Kara Walker was sort of revolting and negative and a form of betrayal to the slaves,” in 1999 after staging a writing campaign against A Subtlety.[13] In this campaign, Saar wanted to destroy and censor Walker's work due to its questioned morality.[13]