Fons Americanus, 2019

Kara Walker is a renowned American artist known for her powerful explorations of race, history, and identity through silhouette installations, drawings, and large-scale sculptures. Her work often addresses the legacy of slavery and colonialism, confronting historical narratives with a raw, provocative edge. Walker’s ability to merge historical imagery with contemporary critique has positioned her as one of the most influential voices in contemporary art. She frequently draws inspiration from 19th-century visual culture, using its aesthetics to expose the brutality and contradictions embedded in American history.

One of her significant works, Fons Americanus (2019), is a sculptural piece cast in bronze from an edition of 30, measuring 20 x 16 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6 x 40.6 cm). This work is a smaller version of her monumental fountain installation presented at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, which reimagined the traditional European victory monument as a critique of the transatlantic slave trade. Inspired by London’s Victoria Memorial, Fons Americanus subverts colonial iconography by exposing its violent underpinnings. The bronze edition condenses this grand narrative into a more intimate form, reinforcing Walker’s themes of power, oppression, and historical amnesia. Through this piece, she continues her examination of the ways in which history is memorialized and the overlooked voices that lie beneath its grand narratives.