MOCA Acquires Kara Walker’s Transformed Confederate Monument, “Unmanned Drone”

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has added Kara Walker’s powerful sculpture, “Unmanned Drone,” to its permanent collection. The acquisition, announced recently, comes after the artwork was a centerpiece of the museum’s critically acclaimed “Monuments” exhibition. This addition is part of a larger expansion of MOCA’s collection, incorporating 158 works by 106 artists, including major pieces by Jacqueline Humphries, Mike Kelley, Shizu Saldamando, Mary Weatherford, Julie Mehretu and Nairy Baghramian. Fifty artists are new to the collection, among them Jonathas de Andrade, Leilah Babirye, Meriem Bennani, Paul Chan, Cynthia Daignault, and Ali Eyal.

From Confederate Statue to Striking Sculpture

“Unmanned Drone” is a 13-foot-tall bronze sculpture created by Walker from a decommissioned statue of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. The original statue was removed from Charlottesville, Virginia, following the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally, where it served as a focal point for white supremacists. The city of Charlottesville sought proposals for the statue’s future, and The Brick, which co-presented the “Monuments” exhibition with MOCA, was selected to receive it on January 6, 2022, with the stipulation that it not be re-erected for veneration.¹

Walker dramatically altered the statue using a plasma cutter, re-welding the pieces into a new form. She removed Jackson’s face, shifting the emphasis to his horse, Little Sorrel, which now stands upright with its head emerging from the saddle. According to Hamza Walker, director of The Brick, the artist’s intention was to de-emphasize the figure of Jackson and focus on the horse, reducing the monument to “horse and rider.”¹

Art critic Christopher Knight, in a review of “Monuments,” described “Unmanned Drone” as “devastating” and “brilliant.”² He noted the sculpture evokes the folkloric image of the “headless horseman,” representing a haunting metaphor for enduring white supremacy.²

“Monuments” Exhibition and MOCA’s Expanding Collection

“Unmanned Drone” was the only transformed statue among nearly a dozen decommissioned Confederate monuments featured in the “Monuments” exhibition, which ran from October 23, 2025, to May 3, 2026, at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and The Brick.³ The other monuments were presented in their original, often vandalized, condition as they were removed from public spaces following protests in the summer of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd.¹

In addition to Walker’s sculpture, MOCA has acquired other significant works, including an environmental sculpture by Olafur Eliasson, pieces by Takako Yamaguchi, a media installation by Paul Pfeiffer titled “Red Green Blue” (2022) – co-acquired with the Brooklyn Museum – and works by Cynthia Daignault, Shizu Saldamando, and Henry Taylor.

“The expansion of MOCA’s collection this year reflects a sustained and deeply collaborative effort to think critically about what it means to build a museum collection in the twenty-first century,” stated Clara Kim, MOCA’s chief curator and director of curatorial affairs.¹