Fred Wilson was born in 1954 in Bronx, New York in the United States. His artistic style explores bias, race, history and aesthetics, imposes provocative juxtapositions, spans reinstallation of museum collections, and uses archival materials, glass, furniture, sculpture, sound, lighting and video. He won the grant for the MacArthur Fellowship "genius shocking the art establishment. This conceptual artist therefore hurtled through to achieve international fame with his examination of race in the United States through a new medium, the art museum. Critical acclaim first hit Wilson during his first exhibition, the innovative Mining the Museum created in 1992. This display featured the reinstallation of the collection of the Baltimore Historical Society, and construction of a deep, somber interpretation of the United States’ history of slavery. His work or art Cabinetmaking 1820 – 1960 created in 1992 employs the use of blood red bases onto which four well-designed parlor chains are places, facing a rudimentary whipping post made of wood, positioned in front of a blood red wall. His genius is evident in his talent through which he showcases museum objects in stimulating combinations, creating an astounding new framework for contemplation of “institutional biases, presentation techniques, and... show more

Fred Wilson was born in 1954 in Bronx, New York in the United States. His artistic style explores bias, race, history and aesthetics, imposes provocative juxtapositions, spans reinstallation of museum collections, and uses archival materials, glass, furniture, sculpture, sound, lighting and video. He won the grant for the MacArthur Fellowship "genius shocking the art establishment. This conceptual artist therefore hurtled through to achieve international fame with his examination of race in the United States through a new medium, the art museum. Critical acclaim first hit Wilson during his first exhibition, the innovative Mining the Museum created in 1992. This display featured the reinstallation of the collection of the Baltimore Historical Society, and construction of a deep, somber interpretation of the United States’ history of slavery. His work or art Cabinetmaking 1820 – 1960 created in 1992 employs the use of blood red bases onto which four well-designed parlor chains are places, facing a rudimentary whipping post made of wood, positioned in front of a blood red wall. His genius is evident in his talent through which he showcases museum objects in stimulating combinations, creating an astounding new framework for contemplation of “institutional biases, presentation techniques, and accepted versions of cultural history”. Wilson exhibited his work of art titled 5peak of Me As I Am created in 2003, adapted from Othello (1603 by William Shakespeare at the Venice Biennale. This reflected the voices of the Africans who are portrayed in Venetian sculptures and paintings. His most forceful work was the Chandelier Mori created in 2003. This piece of art features a gigantic Venetian chandelier styled from the 17th century, made of black glass as a replacement for the standard use of pastel Murano glass. This portrayal is a metaphor for the oppression of Africans all the way through history. Wilson has been quoted to have said, “I do jarring, upsetting things, like exhibiting slave shackles next to lavish silver museum pieces, but I try to ease people into these juxtapositions. I use beauty as a way of helping people to receive difficult or upsetting ideas. The topical issues are merely a vehicle for making one aware of one's own perceptual shift-which is the real thrill.” Fred Wilson’s works of art include: Guarded View created in 1991 part of the collection at the Whitney Museum of Art, New York, U.S.; Mining the Museum created in 1992 displayed at the Contemporary & Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, U.S.; Re:Claiming Egypt: Fred Wilson produced in 1992 part of the collection at the International Cairo Biennial, Egypt; Viewing the Invisible: An Installation by Fred Wilson created in 1998 at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Australia; Chandelier Mori produced in 2003 at the United States Pavilion, 50th Venice Biennale, Italy; Fred Wilson: Objects and Installations 7979 created between 2000 and 2004 at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, Chicago Cultural Center, Illinois, Center for Art and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore, U.S.
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