Earlier this month, I visited Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus sculptural installation at London’s Tate Modern. In the Tate’s photo book prepared for the show, British writer Zadie Smith penned an analytical essay about the artist, specifically on the complex and varied reactions spectators had and continue to have to Walker and her art.
To many, Walker’s work is “salacious”, as Smith wrote. She went on to add that some opinions on Walker’s methodology insinuate that it “eroticises, aestheticises, fetishises, and dramatises…” to capture public attention.
In Smith’s analysis and in subsequent conversations I’ve had with friends about Fons Americanus, opinions were split: to some, Walker’s preoccupation with ruin and history rejigged reads
Read more on thefader.com