![]() Could it possibly be that Wilson had something in mind other than the simple-minded intention to debunk and condemn? Could it also be possible to connect slavery, tyranny, and constitutional government - and that Wilson is doing just this in his work? What did our critics make of this assemblage? They voiced two main complaints: Wilson's piece had no readily discernible meaning, and its meaning was far too obvious.īecause Wilson's installations are in effect high-art Rorschach blots, these judgments tell us more, perhaps, about how touchy the topic of American slavery still is than about Liberty/Liberté. ![]() Among the pieces that Wilson assembled for Liberty/Liberté were two sculptures of George Washington (one showing him in the toga of an ancient Roman republican, the other in the garb of a Virginia gentleman farmer) a cigar-store figurine of an African-American man holding a red French liberty cap a bust of Napoleon Bonaparte a miniature portrait of Haitian liberator Toussaint L'Ouverture a wrought-iron balustrade from Federal Hall in New York, where Washington was sworn in as the first President chains, shackles and slave badges (the metal tags that were used to label enslaved African Americans with the crafts they practiced) and a tag bearing Sojourner Truth's famous question, "Ain't I a woman?" He has been recognized with a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" and in 2003 he represented the United States as our nation's official artist at the Venice Biennale.įor New-York Historical, Wilson arranged his chosen objects on and around a large marble stand made with pedestals of varying heights. ![]() For the past twenty years, he has created engaging, thought-provoking artworks with the lightest touch imaginable by ingeniously reshuffling the objects he finds in the permanent collections of museums. ![]() To explain how, and why, let me tell you a little about the artist and what he has done.īorn in 1954, Fred Wilson is one of the best-known American artists of his generation. What happened when we threw open the doors last November? Critics universally praised our ground-floor galleries - and complained about Wilson's installation. ![]()
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