Tate
About the Exhibition
Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus presented an origin story of African diaspora and posed timely questions about what is remembered and what is forgotten in public monuments. Inspired by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace unveiled in 1911 to honor the achievements of Queen Victoria, Walker’s soaring 13-meter-high fountain offers a powerful critique. Rather than a celebration of the British Empire, Hyundai Commission: Kara Walker: Fons Americanus questioned the usual function of memorials and the narratives of power they present. The fountain served as an allegory of the Black Atlantic, exploring the interconnected histories of Africa, America and Europe through fact, fiction and fantasy. Using water as a key theme, the artist referenced the transatlantic slave trade and the ambitions, fates and tragedies of people from these three continents. The full title of the work is painted on the Turbine Hall wall, written in Walker’s own words. Encouraging visitors to confront a history often overlooked in Britain, she presents the artwork as a “‘gift … to the heart of an Empire that redirected the fates of the world’.”
Installed at the far end of the Turbine Hall, Fons Americanus was a soaring fountain that rises from two oval basins filled with water. Sculptural figures occupied these basins and all four sides of the multi-tiered central pedestal, with water spouting from the top figure. Its form is inspired by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, designed in 1901 and unveiled in 1911 to honor the achievements of Queen Victoria. Rather than a celebration of the British Empire, Walker’s work offers a powerful critique, inverting the usual function of memorials and questioning the narratives of power they present. The fountain is an allegory of the Black Atlantic, exploring the interconnected histories of Africa, America and Europe through fact, fiction and fantasy. Using water as a key theme, the artist references the transatlantic slave trade and the ambitions, fates and tragedies of people from these three continents.
The full title of the work was painted on the Turbine Hall wall, written in Walker’s own words. Encouraging visitors to confront a history often overlooked in Britain, she presents the artwork as a “gift … to the heart of an Empire that redirected the fates of the world”. She has signed the work “Kara Walker, NTY,” or “Not Titled Yet,” in a play on British honors awards such as “OBE” (Order of the British Empire).
Hyundai Commission: Kara Walker: Fons Americanus was curated by Clara Kim, The Daskalopoulos Senior Curator, International Art (Africa, Asia & Middle East), Tate Modern with Priyesh Mistry, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate Modern and Petra Schmidt, Production Manager, Tate Modern.
About the Artist
Kara Walker (b. 1969, Stockton, California) is renowned for her candid explorations of race, gender, sexuality and violence, from drawings, prints, murals, shadow puppets and projections to large-scale sculptural installations. Best known for her use of black cut-paper silhouetted figures, often referencing the history of slavery, her works have featured prominently in exhibitions around the world. Her first large-scale public commission opened in the derelict Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn in 2014 and powerfully addressed the history of sugar production. Walker’s works are represented in major museum collections across the USA and Europe and a major survey exhibition of her work opened at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in 2007 and travelled to Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth. Other solo shows of her work have been held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, Camden Arts Centre in London and Metropolitan Arts Center (MAC) in Belfast.
About the Program
Hyundai Commission
The annual Hyundai Commission is a series of new, site-specific installations by international artists in Tate Modern’s iconic Turbine Hall, made possible by a unique partnership between Tate and Hyundai Motor. The Turbine Hall has hosted some of the world’s most memorable exhibitions and the way artists have interpreted this space has revolutionized public perceptions of contemporary art. The annual Hyundai Commission offers contemporary artists an opportunity to create new work for this unique context while bringing forward many of today’s most pressing questions.
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