Book dossier

Fred Wilson

by Paul Kaplan

New York - Pace Gallery is pleased to present 'Fred Wilson: Afro Kismet', an exhibition featuring the artist's most recent body of work originally produced for the 15th Istanbul Biennial in the Fall of 2017 and recently exhibited at Pace in London in Spring 2018. Even before being invited by Elmgreen & Dragset to participate in the 15th Istanbul Biennial in 2017, Wilson's interest in the city had already piqued; he conceived of the city as the third leg in a historically and culturally connected eastern Mediterranean triangle which also included Cairo and Venice. Through his research, Wilson developed a conceptual basis for the Istanbul project in which he contextualized pieces from the city's Pera Museum's Orientalist collection with new and existing works of his own. For Pace in New York, Wilson will reconfigure the installation, which includes two chandeliers, two monumental Iznik tile walls, four black glass drip works, and a globe sculpture, as well as installations and vitrine pieces that gather cowrie shells, engravings, photographs, a Yoruba mask, and furniture, among other objects the artist discovered in his frequent trips to Istanbul throughout 2016 and 2017. Presented together, these works will constitute the third unique installation of Fred Wilson: Afro Kismet. In addition to the installation, Pace will present a selection of the artist's Murano glass works and drip sculptures in the adjacent gallery. Exhibition: Pace Gallery, New York, USA (10.07. - 17.08.2018).