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“I have collections of things just to think about, because I can’t believe they exist. […] This was just a little visual prompter to a much larger problem that infiltrated all different areas of society, and this is the residue that’s left behind.” —Fred Wilson

Artist Fred Wilson has been a clarion voice examining the representation of African Americans and other minorities in museums and cultural institutions for decades. Starting with his seminal early–90s work Mining the Museum at the Maryland Historical Society, the Bronx–born (1954), Macarthur–Genius–award–winning (1999) artist has used ostensibly everyday or even kitschy objects to illuminate the biases behind how minorities are portrayed in cultural institutions.

In this video from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Wilson talks specifically about his collection of “degradaria,” and how he mines such hateful objects for inspiration in his art.

Museums

Sponsor
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MUSEUMS: Sarah Oppenheimer: Sensitive Machine

5:24

MUSEUMS: For Walter J. Hood, Architecture Means Power

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MUSEUMS: Fabric Workshop and Museum Explores Clay and Fabric

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MUSEUMS: Julie Mehretu Behind-the-Scenes With Checkerboard Films

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MUSEUMS: Alice Neel Paints Life “Hot off the Griddle”

Galleries

5:24

GALLERIES: Alec Soth Takes the Measure of Photography

6:09

GALLERIES: Pablo Picasso: Seven Decades of Drawing

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GALLERIES: For Landon Metz, Failure is an Option

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GALLERIES: Jacob El Hanani Is a Line-Maker

1:09:20

LONGFORM: Sheila Hicks Reflects From Home in Paris

Studios

1:53

VAULT: Philip Guston Biopic Trailer (1981)

3:32

STUDIOS: Joep van Lieshout on Going Beyond Beautiful Design

5:02

STUDIOS: Peter Beard: “Nature is the best thing we’ve got”

10:34

STUDIOS: Ursula von Rydingsvard’s Material Instinct (2000)

3:00

STUDIOS: Billy Childish Gets Out of the Way of the Picture

Community

36:17

PODCAST: ‘Barbara London Calling’ Launches Season 2

Sponsor
47:07

LONGFORM: Hughie O’Donoghue in Conversation with Charles Saumarez Smith

3:31

COMMUNITY: William Eric Brown Applies New Processes to Old

58:08

PODCAST: Heidi Zuckerman in Conversation with Adam Pendleton

22:57

LONGFORM: ‘To Cast Too Bold a Shadow’ Exhibition Walkthrough

Market

3:39

MARKET: For Kimsooja, Immaterial Art Achieves Memory

15:35

MARKET: How Christie’s and Sotheby’s Dominate the Art Market

3:00

MARKET: Ghada Amer on Being a Woman Artist

4:37

MARKET: Catherine Petitgas is an Enabler

2:34

MARKET: Kunsthalle Basel Is of Its Time