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| Photo: SFMOMA |
SFMOMA's summary explains:
"Kara Walker has long been recognized for her incisive examinations of the dynamics of power and the exploitation of race and sexuality. Her work leverages expressions of fantasy and humor to confront troubling histories and dominant narratives, repossessing control in the process. Inspired by a wide range of sources, from antique dolls to Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, Walker’s new commission, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), considers the memorialization of trauma, the objectives of technology, and the possibilities of transforming the negative energies that plague contemporary society. Here, automatons trapped in a never-ending cycle of ritual and struggle are repositories of the human soul. They recall mechanized medieval icons that evidenced divinity, vitality, and the promise of faith. Situated within an energetically charged field of black obsidian from Mt. Konocti in Lake County — a volcanic glass with deep spiritual properties — Walker’s Gardeners evoke wonder, reflection, respite, and hope. Just past this prophetic vignette, the installation’s namesake, Fortuna, responds to each visitor with a choreographed gesture and a printed fortune fresh from her mouth — an offering of absolution and contemplation."
A figure with a hole in her torso plays a musical instrument through it. A wise and powerful figure levitates a young boy...or perhaps facilitates and eases his fall to the ground. A young girl displays a hand puppet to tell her story. A lone figure with arms torn off, and still wriggling on the ground, stands helpless. And the tall figure of Fortuna stands independent of the Garden, dispensing ticker-tape fortunes from her mouth. I got one that says "Woman and children, women and children. And men and dogs too. Cats. Mice. No one of us is safe and free."
Astoundingly, this piece is free to see, located in a public atrium, and not in the paid admission areas of the museum. It will be displayed until Spring of 2026! If you are in or near--or will be in or near--San Francisco, I highly recommend a visit to see this stunning, overwhelming installation in person.
https://www.karawalkerstudio.com/
https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/fortuna-and-the-immortality-garden-machine/
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