The Artist: Fred Wilson, The Artist

Fred Wilson—the Artist
Simple and complicated, Fred Wilson is an installation artist and political activist. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Purchase College, State University of New York in 1976. Fred Wilson was born in 1954 in The Bronx, New York (Fred Wilson, Art21.org). He is an American artist, with African-American and Caribbean descent (Fred Wilson, Artspace.com). Fred Wilson still lives in New York today. He is most known for his conceptual art. He is quoted as saying, “I get everything that satisfies my soul from bringing together objects that are in the world, manipulating them, working with spatial arrangements, and having things presented the way I want to see them” (Fred Wilson, Art21.org).
Fred Wilson was a
free-lance museum educator for the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and American Crafts Museum in the 1970’s. The purpose of his art is to reveal social injustice by creating new exhibits within exiting museums. Wilson used his subjective view of the museum environment to force viewers to question how curators shape interpretations of historical truth, artistic value, and what kinds of biases our cultural institutions express (Fred Wilson, Art21.org). In the early 1990’s Fred Wilson gained notoriety with the exhibition Mining the Museum (Fred Wilson, Artspace.com). He highlighted the history of slavery in America in the Maryland Historical Society’s collection using a strategy that Wilson refers to as “a trompe l’oeil of museum space” (Fred Wilson, Art21.org). Some of Fred Wilson’s awards include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Award and the Larry Aldrich Foundation Award (Fred Wilson, Artspace.com). Prior to Fred Wilson becoming famous for his work in the Maryland Museum, he held many exhibitions. In 1988 it was, Fred Wilson: Portrait of Audubon (organized by Public Art Fund, New York), Chambers Street and West Broadway, New York, June 10, 1988 (Fred Wilson, Pacegallery.com). During this exhibition, Wilson presented the Audubon from a birds-eye view putting signs and structures that describe the wildlife there that was meant to encourage those eating lunch or visiting to absorb the world around them (Fund, Publicartfund.org). I really liked the idea of using words to spark interest in seeking out what is already there. The details of the birdhouses and little signs caused me to look for more. I believe his was an effective way to inspire others to do the same. (http://www.publicartfund.org/view/exhibitions/5988_portrait_of_audubon#&gid=1&pid=) Interestingly, through many readings, it appears that Fred Wilson’s artistic eye is used to raise more questions than answers. He does things like putting spotlights on the black servants hovering in the shadows in wealthy household scenes. “More shockingly, he placed slave shackles in a case with Baltimore Repousse-style silver hollowware made in the same period. (http://beautifultrouble.org/case/mining-the-museum/)
Also, very photogenically, he displayed fancy side-chairs with an actual whipping post that had also been “buried” in the permanent collection” (Fred Wilson’s Quest, artsjournal.com). Ironically, these changes weren’t shared beyond the museum they were created in which led some to ask did the raise too many questions (Fred Wilson’s Quest, artsjournal.com). Fred Wilson has a cheerful disposition and his work was described like this, "Fred's work, at its very center, asks you to really think about what is art, what is history, what is an art museum," said Isolde Brielmaier, chief curator of exhibitions at SCAD” (Museum Therapist, Cnn.com). Initially, I wasn’t impressed with his work, to be completely honest. However, I am impressed with the amount of time and research he puts in to learning everything he can about the time periods, scenes, and people displayed in each museum. Through his research, he sets out to find the story told and reveal the untold story to viewers. All too often we go through life just accepting things for what they are. Fred Wilson challenges us to look again and see more (Museum Therapist, Cnn.com). Wilson doesn’t just move furniture and items in museums however. One of the pieces he created that I shook my head at was "Arise!” done in 2004. "Where I dropped the spots there are these ‘thought bubbles’ - like in cartoons- and they talk to each other. Various conversations emerge from the relationship between them. I pulled the text from black characters in novels or plays, or film screenplays.” Fred Wilson (Yes No Maybe Wilson, nga.gov). (http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/features/yes-no-maybe/yes/wilson.html) After researching this piece, I better understood his purpose.
Prior to my research, I was at a loss as to its meaning. He got the idea to create this piece because he was interested in spots — of oil, ink, and tar — and how they related to racial implications found in Western culture. Wilson created the piece by dripping acid onto etching plates, he then gave the resulting spots “voices” by inserting words spoken by black characters created by white writers, including Herman Melville, Arthur Miller, and William Shakespeare (Yes No Maybe Wilson, nga.gov). After displaying, Arise! discussions developed about blackness itself. He titled the piece after a quote from Shakespeare’s Othello: “Arise, black vengeance, from hollow hell!” (Yes No Maybe Wilson, nga.gov). According to Fred Wilson, (crownpoint.com) he had begun to think about his own relationships and was excited about his own art, like Arise! Another piece that came from this time period in his life (2004) and was different from the museum arrangements was Bang (crownpoint.com). This is another one of those spot pictures, or copper etchings that resulted in ink spots, only this one has a peach colored background. The sale price on it is $3500 which caught my attention. So, I set out to find the background on it to help me find more value in
it. (https://www.artsy.net/artwork/fred-wilson-bang) I wasn’t able to find much on that one, but in my quest, I found another one that I actually liked. It’s called We Are All in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars (2004) (Fred Wilson, artspace.com). This had the same spotty effect, but the title caused me to look at it differently. It’s dark around the edges and there’s more light towards the middle. It’s actually kind of inspirational to me! I found that this is an Oscar Wilde quote, which falls in line with Fred Wilson’s use of someone else’s words in various ways to provide perspective and meaning to his artwork. (https://www.artsy.net/artwork/fred-wilson-we-are-all-in-the-gutter-but-some-of-us-are-looking-at-the-stairs)
In 2014, Pace Gallery opens “Fred Wilson: 2004-2014” in New York (Fred Wilson, pacegallery.com). It features his Sculptures, Paintings, and Installations. Lots of black and white were used in the pieces. The blown glass pieces definitely intrigued me. These water-droplet like shapes were attached to a wall in different patterns. Some look like they were being blown others simply falling straight down. They are solid black. There is a picture of a white guy at the event with his hand out as if to catch the droplet (Fred Wilson, pacegallery.com). The blown glass pieces also included Mhole (2005), Psst! (2005), Viscous Risk (2005), and Dark Dawn—seen below (2005) (Fred Wilson, pacegallery.com). (https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/DARK-DAWN/CAA082D892D51D08)
I found another blown glass droplet one named Songs of Many Songs (2015)which consisted of different sized droplets (Fred Wilson, artsy.net).
Some of these drops featured cartoony white eyes bulging out of the droplets. It seemed to signify the stereotypes of black people, such as images of mammies. I am sure there are more to these droplets than I am getting, given his political acuteness, that of which I am lacking. (https://www.artsy.net/artwork/572a1837275b24680700174e) Fred Wilson’s approach of forcing viewers to see what they’ve become numb to seeing by mixing things up and presenting it in such a way that we’ve got no choice but to think about it is a talent. His talents are still recognized today. On March 22, 2017, Fred Wilson was asked to speak at Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York (Fred Wilson, pacegallery.com). He shares his perspectives, knowledge, and encourages others to see what’s not being seen. To acknowledge our unconscious biases and consciously make changes for the
better.