Contemporary multi author Art Exhibition Arts Essay

Artwork Analysis of Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus
By (Name)
The Name of the Class (Course)
Professor (Tutor)
The Name of the School (University)
The City and State where it is located
The Date
Artwork Analysis of Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus
Introduction
Reading Contemporary Art is one of the units that has allowed students to understand art from different perspectives; artist, artwork, exhibition, and audience. The discussions and analyses provided show how art is interpreted depending on the theme analyzed. One of the works ‘21st April Class Exhibition’ is Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus. Analysis of the art on the theme of artwork shows the features and elements of the artwork that lay bare the message communicated through the work.
Artwork Analysis of Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus
Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus is one of the fascinating artworks due to its overmuch, the pompousness, and the grandeur with which the artwork is done. The artwork is one of the latest creations done by Kara Walker, and fueled by such sensibility. The piece is a fountain that stands at 13 meters high in Tate Modern museum in London. What makes it outstanding is the cast of iconography and characters which reflect the intertwined histories of America, Europe, and Africa (Nugent and Mann 2019). The artwork has been done to present the brutality of slavery that was suffered as a major trade between the three continents. The setting of the artwork also shows how the social vice took place with the setting was subversively joyful.
 INCLUDEPICTURE "http://hifructose.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Kara1.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET 

Walker is considered one of the outstanding artists for doing ambitious artworks using different mediums that present, slavery, race, identity, and sexuality. In this regard, Fons Americanus is one of the four site specific works that Walker has done, and the work has reference such classical artists as J.M.W Turner and William Blake from England. It also references such African American historical prominent figures as Marcus Garvey and Emmett Till (Nugent and Mann 2019). This shows the historical importance of the work. Notably, the artwork was partly inspired by Victoria Memorial in London; it is a majestic and towering monument of the Queen who was the commander of the British Empire.
One of the outstanding features of the artwork is the manner in which it brings out the contrast between the reality and the fantasy, as well as between the big and the small. The contrast forms the basis of the artwork, and it shows the artist’s intention to tell a story using her own hand, a story which is unheard or unseen (Nugent and Mann 2019). The size and theme of slavery and how it formed a relationship between the three continents shows that the artwork was meant to narrate a story that is larger than viewers could understand from the artwork.
The artwork is physically appealing and shows the artist’s expertise and the extent to which she invested skills and time in producing a masterpiece. However, understanding the artwork requires one to understand the various elements of the piece (Catterall 2020). Five of the elements of the artwork that one must understand so as to piece together the message it carries include the water, Venus, pedestal figures, the shell grotto, and the base of the fountain.
The Water
The water in the fountain represents water, meaning that it has no hidden meaning. The artwork and inclusion of water was inspired by the time that the artist spent in Rome, where the spectacular Baroque Trevi Fountain is located. In this case, water forms an integral part of the artwork, it is symbolic of the oceans which slaves were transported across forcibly (Catterall 2020). It also represents the metaphorical relationships that existed between Europe, Africa, and America, and the identities and histories shared by the three continents. As mentioned earlier, the artwork represents the slave trade that was transacted between the three continents. Therefore, water is included since it was the channel of transport of the slaves, and it connected the three continents.
Venus
The artwork has also referenced one of the propaganda artworks done in 1801, known as The Voyage of the Sable Venus from Angola to the West Indies, in which the Middle Passage was depicted as a joyful journey (Catterall 2020). In this case, Venus spreads her arms on top of the artwork, and could be interpreted as a form of liberation and celebration borrowed from the Brazilian culture.
Pedestal figures
The artwork also contains a sea captain which has been partly modeled based on Haitian revolutionary leader, Toussaint L’Ouverture. The captain appears on the front side of the pedestal, with a man kneeling besides him; this symbolizes an owner of a slave who was once powerful who has now lost powers due to the rebellion. It symbolizes how rebellions could cripple power slave owners and make the slaves powerful and rulers (Catterall 2020). There are also two similar figures that overlook the water that shows several slaves who are drowning in water containing sharks. In this case, the artwork shows effective choice of characters so as to create a rather miasmic and nauseating sensation that shows the plight of slaves during that time.
The Shell Grotto
The artwork shows scalloped shell houses in which there is a head of a young boy who is weeping and almost submerged in water. This represents the conditions through which slaves were transported to their destinations through the oceans (Catterall 2020). It also shows that slaves included both children and adults, and they were transported in inhuman conditions. The artwork vividly creates a picture for the viewer to understand the conditions surrounding slavery during the early years.
Fountain’s base
The fountain has a ridge surrounding it, whose design was inspired by the public, as one of the ways of enabling the viewers to interact with the artwork. The public is allowed to sit on the base, and so it means it can be used as a town square. The wall of the Hall has been painted the full name of the artwork, Fons Americanus, and this was done to pass the message that the fountain of the artwork is a peaceful and joyous family setting (Catterall 2020). The artwork also reveals the artist’s inspiration and targeted audience; children. This is because children are more fascinated by such topics as race and slavery, which are hardly discussed among adults. Therefore, the base of the fountain helps in better understanding the artwork in terms of target aud...