Tate Modern and Hyundai Motor have announced that Kara Walker will create the next annual Hyundai Commission. Walker 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. Her new site-specific work for the Turbine Hall will be open to the public from 2 October 2019 to 5 April 2020.
Walker’s works have featured prominently in exhibitions around the world since the mid-1990s. 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. Over 10 metres high and 23 metres long, A Subtlety was a monumental sculpture of a sphinx-like figure, covered in sugar and surrounded by smaller figures made of toffee, brown sugar and molasses. She has since designed and directed a production of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma for the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, and, most recently, created The Katastwóf Karavan (2017), a musical installation as part of the Prospect.4 triennial in New Orleans. Taking the form of a calliope (a steam-powered organ) set inside a steel wagon and encircled by silhouetted figures, the work was used in a series of live performances as well as programmed to play songs related to African-American experience.
Frances Morris, Director, Tate Modern said: ‘Kara Walker fearlessly tackles some of the most complex issues we face today. Her work addresses history and identity with a powerful directness, but also with great understanding, nuance and wit. Seeing her respond to the industrial scale of the Turbine Hall – and the wider context of London and British history – is a hugely exciting proposition.’
Wonhong Cho, Executive Vice President, Hyundai Motor said: ‘We look forward to the fifth Hyundai Commission by Kara Walker, known for her explorations of history, culture, race and identity, and to the new ways in which she will engage audiences in the Turbine Hall. In partnership with organizations across the globe, Hyundai Motor will continue to invite international audiences to unique creative experiences.’
Hyundai Commission 2019 will be curated by Clara Kim, The Daskalopoulos Senior Curator, International Art (Africa, Asia & Middle East) and Priyesh Mistry, Assistant Curator, International Art. It will be accompanied by a new book from Tate Publishing.
To read more about Kara Walker and the 2019 Hyundai Commission, click here.