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Home>Yes No Maybe Introduction>Yes No Maybe Yes>Yes No Maybe Wilson

# 

Exhibition Introduction

Note to the ReaderAcknowledgments

IntroductionKeithJohnLeslieSelf-Portrait

IntroductionTouched RedGreenCombinationHigh Green Version 1

Introduction17 Drawings by ThoreauSeven Day Diary (Not Knowing)Changes and DisappearancesWhere R=RyoanjiFireThe Missing Stone 75 StonesEninkaStonesWhere There is Where There

IntroductionAnne ApplebyPia FriesDarren AlmondSusan MiddletonJoel FisherBrad BrownTom Marioni

IntroductionMamma AnderssonSol LeWittFred WilsonRobert BechtleKiki Smith

IntroductionJulie MehretuWayne ThiebaudJockum NordströmTomma AbtsNathan OliveiraChris Ofili

IntroductionPat SteirLaura OwensWayne ThiebaudAmy Sillman

# Fred Wilson

Fred Wilson, Arise!, 2004
*Arise!* (working proof)2004spitbite aquatint in black with inscriptions in graphiteplate: 20 × 24 (50.8 × 61)sheet: 30 1⁄2 × 34 (77.5 × 86.4)Crown Point Press© Fred Wilson, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Fred Wilson, Arise!, 2004
Detail, lower left, *Arise!* (working proof)2004spitbite aquatint in black with inscriptions in graphiteplate: 20 × 24 (50.8 × 61)sheet: 30 1⁄2 × 34 (77.5 × 86.4)Crown Point Press© Fred Wilson, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Fred Wilson, Arise!, 2004
Detail, upper right, *Arise!* (working proof)2004spitbite aquatint in black with inscriptions in graphiteplate: 20 × 24 (50.8 × 61)sheet: 30 1⁄2 × 34 (77.5 × 86.4)Crown Point Press© Fred Wilson, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Fred Wilson, Arise!, 2004
*Arise!*2004spitbite aquatint in black and direct gravureplate: 20 × 24 (50.8 × 61)sheet: 30 1⁄2 × 34 1⁄16 (77.5 × 86.5)National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Kathan Brown,2006 © Fred Wilson, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Fred Wilson, Arise!, 2004
Detail, center,*Arise!*2004spitbite aquatint in black and direct gravureplate: 20 × 24 (50.8 × 61)sheet: 30 1⁄2 × 34 1⁄16 (77.5 × 86.5)National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Kathan Brown,2006© Fred Wilson, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Fred Wilson, Arise!, 2004
Detail, lower left,*Arise!*2004spitbite aquatint in black and direct gravureplate: 20 × 24 (50.8 × 61)sheet: 30 1⁄2 × 34 1⁄16 (77.5 × 86.5)National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Kathan Brown,2006© Fred Wilson, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Fred Wilson, Arise!, 2004
Detail, upper right,*Arise!*2004spitbite aquatint in black and direct gravureplate: 20 × 24 (50.8 × 61)sheet: 30 1⁄2 × 34 1⁄16 (77.5 × 86.5)National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Kathan Brown,2006© Fred Wilson, Courtesy Pace Gallery

The idea for *Arise!*sprang from Wilson’s interest in spots — of oil, ink, and tar — and their racial associations in Western culture (think of the baby fashioned out of tar that ensnares Br’er Rabbit in Disney’s controversial 1946 film *Song of the South*). Dripping acid onto etching plates, Wilson lent the resulting spots “voices” by inserting words spoken by black characters created by white writers, including Herman Melville, Arthur Miller, and William Shakespeare. The result is a provocative discussion, seemingly about blackness itself. The print’s title quotes Shakespeare’s Othello: “Arise, black vengeance, from hollow hell!” Few differences separate the proof and the final print, showing the completeness of Wilson’s original vision.

Fred Wilson dripping acid onto a copperplate at Crown Point Press, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press

Banner image: Detail, Mamma Andersson, *Room Under the Influence*, 2008, color spitbite aquatint, sugarlift aquatint, aquatint, and softground etching,  Gift of Kathan Brown, Crown Point Press, © Mamma Andersson

Next: Robert Bechtle

"Yes, No, Maybe: The Art of Making Decisions," lecture by exhibition curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)Julie Mehretu, artist, in conversation with curator Judith Brodie, Diamonstein-Spielvogel lecture (audio)"An Insider's Perspective," lecture by Kathan Brown, founder of Crown Point Press (audio)

Exhibition tour by curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)

Fred Wilson in the collection of the National Gallery of Art

Crown Point Press prints in the collection of the National Gallery of Art

Press release

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