id:			169862
accession number:	2012.115
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2012.115
updated:		

To Die upon a Kiss, 2011. Fred Wilson (American, b. 1954). Murano glass; overall: 177.8 x 174 x 174 cm (70 x 68 1/2 x 68 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2012.115 © Fred Wilson

title:				To Die upon a Kiss
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			2011
creation date earliest:		2011
creation date latest:		2011
current location:		
creditline:			The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
copyright:			© Fred Wilson

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culture:	America, 21st century
technique:	Murano glass
department:	Contemporary Art
collection:	CONTEMP - Installation Media
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Fred Wilson (American, b. 1954)  - artist

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measurements: Overall: 177.8 x 174 x 174 cm (70 x 68 1/2 x 68 1/2 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Gallery One 2012
	opening date:   2012-12-12T05:00:00
	<i>Gallery One 2012</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017).

	title:		Fred Wilson: Works 2004 - 2011
	opening date:   2012-12-22T00:00:00
	<i>Fred Wilson: Works 2004 - 2011</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 22, 2012-May 5, 2013).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Pace Gallery, New York, NY), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 2012
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2012-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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

digital 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.

wall description:
"To die upon a kiss" is the dying line of Othello, the African general in Shakespeare's play set in 1600s Venice, Italy. The title speaks to Fred 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 color of 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.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Erickson, Peter. "Mining Shakespeare: Fred Wilson's Visual Translations of Othello". Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art. no. 33 (2013): 8-19.
	page number: 	Reproduced and mentioned: 14-15
	url:		

	Wilson, Fred.<em> Fred Wilson: Venice Suite : Sala Longhi and Related Works</em>. New York: The Pace Gallery, 2012. Exhibition Catalogue.
	page number: 	Reproduced on cover
	url:		

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IMAGES