Rose Art Museum debuts first major survey of Fred Wilson’s work in more than a decade

‘Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More’ also on view

Celina Colby

Celina Colby is an arts and travel reporter with a fondness for Russian novels.... VIEW BIO

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Entering “Fred Wilson: Reflections” at the Rose Art Museum in Waltham feels a bit like walking through a portal into an alternative universe. The room is adorned with elaborate chandeliers, intricate glass mirrors and classical statuary but the deep dark tones and congested design of each piece give everything an eerie, off-kilter feel. This is intentional.

Fred Wilson is an acclaimed artist working in glass, sculpture, photography and installation. He represented the United States in the 50th Venice Biennale and has received a MacArthur Foundation genius grant. “Reflections” is the first major museum survey of his work in more than a decade.

Artist Fred Wilson PHOTO: HERATCH EKMEKJIAN

That first room showcases Wilson’s work in glass, a practice he honed while preparing for the Biennale. As he immersed himself in Venice’s beauty and history, Wilson noticed that there were few Black figures and those he could find were often caricatures of Moors, North African people who had migrated to Italy, like the title character in Shakespeare’s “Othello.” In the play as in the artwork Wilson was finding, Othello was perpetually mistreated for his skin color.

Fred Wilson, Iago’s Mirror, 2009. Murano glass and wood. 80 x 48 ¾ x 10 ½ in. AP 2 of 2, Edition of 6 + 2 APs + 1 bon à tirer. © Fred Wilson. Courtesy of artist and Pace Gallery.

With this research as a foundation, Wilson began making intricate Murano glass, a famed product of beauty in Venice, in a deep black color. Typically presented in bright, colorful hues, the glass takes on a very different tone when produced in black. “Act V. Scene II —Exeunt Omnes, 2014” is a large 10-foot black mirror with a beautifully appointed trim and four different sections. Looking through it, the gallery reflected behind the viewer looks like a completely different world, a parallel universe. The unsettling result produced by these works represents the often-ignored trauma of the African diaspora.

This idea of reinterpreting the historical representations of Black figures is mirrored in the neighboring exhibition, “Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More,” the artist’s first solo American museum show. Here, Mckinney presents beautiful portraits of Black women resting in lavish surroundings, a sight rarely seen in art history, where Black women are almost always portrayed working or operating in subjugation. 

Danielle Mckinney, “Reading Room,” 2021, acrylic on canvas PHOTO: LANCE BREWER

In another section of “Reflections” hangs a wall of black-and-white flag paintings. Here Wilson has represented flags of African countries without the color, except for black, showcasing how these cultures are stripped of their vibrancy, autonomy and nuance when viewed only as Black nations. 

“I feel the lack of color in the African ‘Flag’ paintings expresses a feeling of loss — the loss of human potential in the wholesale theft and abuse of thousands of children and young adults abducted by slave traders,” reads a quote from Wilson at the start of the exhibition.

Danielle Mckinney, Shelter, 2023.
Oil on linen. 20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. PHOTO: Pierre Le Hors.

The exhibition concludes with the debut of a new installation from the artist titled “Black Now!” Here are featured more than 2,500 objects Wilson has collected since 2005. They are all related to Black culture, or they include the word black. The objects run the gamut from grocery store black beans to Kamala Harris campaign signs. Wilson encourages audiences to reflect on how attitudes towards race are reflected in consumer culture.

“My work asks people to look closely at what they think they know and reconsider the stories we tell about our history, culture and ourselves,” Wilson said. “How do seemingly banal and benign objects — books, trinkets, clothing — carry the weight of that history, oppression and identity?”

“Fred Wilson: Reflections” and “Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More” are on view at the Rose Art Museum through January 4, 2026. The museum is free and open to all.