The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 19, 2024

To Die upon a Kiss

To Die upon a Kiss

2011
(American, b. 1954)
Overall: 177.8 x 174 x 174 cm (70 x 68 1/2 x 68 1/2 in.)
© Fred Wilson
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Wilson’s chandeliers are the first black chandeliers ever to be created in the history of Venetian glassmaking.

Description

"To die upon a kiss" is the dying line of Othello, the African general in Shakespeare’s tragic play set in 1600s Venice, Italy. The title speaks to Wilson's interest in the overlooked history of Africans living in Venice. Wilson says, “My chandeliers have become a vehicle for embodying things that are as complex as Othello himself. Most are a meditation on death, on Blackness, on beauty.” Wilson worked with master glass craftsmen from the Murano glass factories in Venice to create this sculpture. The glass fades from clear to deep black. Throughout his career, Wilson has brought to light alternative historical narratives by appropriating familiar objects and challenging viewers to see them in new ways.
  • 2012
    (Pace Gallery, New York, NY), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2012-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Erickson, Peter. "Mining Shakespeare: Fred Wilson's Visual Translations of Othello". Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art. no. 33 (2013): 8-19. Reproduced and mentioned: 14-15
    Wilson, Fred. Fred Wilson: Venice Suite : Sala Longhi and Related Works. New York: The Pace Gallery, 2012. Exhibition Catalogue. Reproduced on cover
  • Gallery One 2012. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017).
    Fred Wilson: Works 2004 - 2011. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 22, 2012-May 5, 2013).
  • {{cite web|title=To Die upon a Kiss|url=false|author=Fred Wilson|year=2011|access-date=19 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.115