To Die Upon a Kiss

2011

Fred Wilson American, born 1954

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About the Artwork

Fred Wilson has long felt a compassionate connection to William Shakespeare’s Othello, whose powerful position as general of the Venetian army was undermined by prejudice, jealousy, and betrayal. In 2003, Wilson was chosen to represent the United States at the 50th Venice Biennale. Inspired by Othello’s precarious circumstance as a black man in seventeenth-century Venice, Wilson collaborated with master glass makers on the island of Murano to create Speak of Me As I Am (Chandelier Mori), a black chandelier of a type that once graced the finest palaces along Venice’s Grand Canal, to install in the American pavilion at the Biennale. To Die Upon a Kiss—the redemptive final words of the hero of The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice (ca. 1603)—features uniquely colored glass that changes from crystal clear to gray to deepest black, simulating the slow ebb of life, as well as the fluid concept of race. From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title To Die Upon a Kiss

Artwork Date 2011

Artist Fred Wilson

Life Dates born 1954

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Murano glass

Dimensions Overall: 70 × 68 1/2 × 68 1/2 inches (177.8 × 174 × 174 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African American Art

Credit Museum Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2012.53

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Provenance

2012-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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