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To Die upon a Kiss

2011
(American, b. 1954)
America
Murano glass
Overall: 177.8 x 174 x 174 cm (70 x 68 1/2 x 68 1/2 in.)
Weight: 220 lbs. fully installed (weight verified by CMA 2/24/2021)
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2012.115
© Fred Wilson
Location: not on view
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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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.
To Die upon a Kiss

To Die upon a Kiss

2011

Fred Wilson

(American, b. 1954)
America

See Also

Videos

How was this installed in the space?

Fred Wilson on Meaning

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