Iago's Mirror Mirrors have always held an element of mystery, both reflecting and distorting the image.

Iagos Mirror is an example of Fred Wilsons interest in investigating the racial implications of color and the African Diaspora in a global context. Working in the tradition of the glassmakers of Venice, where there was a significant black African presence beginning in the Renaissance, the artist has reversed the tradition by painting the glass black instead of silvering it. The title refers to the duplicitous character who ensnares Shakespeares Othello, perhaps the most famous black figure in English literature. Fred Wilson (American, born 1954), Iagos Mirror. Murano glass, 80 (h) x 48 (w) x 10 (d) in., 2009. Partial gift of The Pace Gallery in honor of Georgia E. Welles and partial purchase with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 2010.9 2010 Fred Wilson, courtesy The Pace Gallery. Gallery 5, Glass Pavilion. The Toledo Museum of Art has purchased the dramatic work in glass entitled Iagos Mirror by artist Fred Wilson. The large, ornate work in black Murano glass has been installed in Gallery 5 of the Glass Pavilion. Fred Wilson is an important artist whose work crosses boundaries between the glass world and contemporary art, said TMA Director Brian Kennedy. One of the Museums goals is to acquire works of art of singular merit by distinguished living artists. Iagos Mirror is a perfect fit within our comprehensive glass collection. Wilson was born in the Bronx, New York in 1954. He received a BFA from SUNY/Purchase where he was the only African American student in his program. A conceptual artist with a focus on social justice, he returns, with this object, to a common thread within his work: a meditation on themes in Shakespeares Othello. Iago is the jealous villain of the story who sets about destroying his friend Othello, a black man, through the deliberate sowing of jealousy and suspicion that his wife is unfaithful. When Iago looks in the mirror, all he sees is blacknessin this case, the blackness of his own soul. Wilson was introduced to glass as a medium in 2001 during a residency at the Pilchuck Glass School. In 2009 he worked with Berengo Studios in Venice to develop a process for layering mirrors together while preserving the intricate details of a traditional 18th-century Murano mirror. To create the dark reflection cast by Iagos Mirror, the back side is colored black rather than silver. Black glass is the most difficult to create and always has a colored hue, here a deep purple. While he has always been interested in big concepts, Wilson remains fascinated by the way beauty functions in art and society. This accounts for some of the strong appeal of glass as a medium for his work. He has said of the piece, I like the fact that it is beautiful yet not comforting.Iagos Mirror ties in beautifully with the Museums glass collection, said Jutta Page, curator of glass and decorative arts. Glass mirrors are an important aspect of luxury glass production since the Renaissance, and Venetian mirrors especiallywhich had to be imported and were precarious to ship due to their sizewere and still are the epitome of such luxury home furnishings.

Fred Wilson was named a MacArthur Genius fellow in 1999, and is currently the Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Object, Exhibition, and Knowledge at Skidmore College where he received an honorary doctorate degree. He received the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture in 1987 and 1991, and the Larry Aldrich Foundation Award (2003). Wilson represented the United States at the Biennial Cairo (1992) and twice at the Venice Biennale (2003 and 2009). It was there that Iagos Mirror was unveiled, the first in a proposed series of six. His work can be found in numerous public collections. He is represented by the Pace Gallery in New York. Wilson began working in glass in 2001 during a residency at the Pilchuck Glass School. It is a medium well-suited to his explorations of ideas of beauty. In 2009 he worked with Berengo Studios in Venice to develop a process for layering mirrors together while preserving the intricate details of a traditional 18th-century Murano mirror. According to a Toledo Museum of Art release: To create the dark reflection cast by Iagos Mirror, the back side is colored black rather than silver. Black glass is the most difficult to create and always has a colored hue, here a deep purple. Iagos Mirror ties in beautifully with the Museums glass collection, said Jutta Page, the TMAs curator of glass and decorative arts. Glass mirrors are an important aspect of luxury glass production since the Renaissance, and Venetian mirrors especiallywhich had to be imported and were precarious to ship due to their sizewere and still are the epitome of such luxury home furnishings. Fred Wilson is an important artist whose work crosses boundaries between the glass world and contemporary art, said TMA Director Brian Kennedy. One of the Museums goals is to acquire works of art of singular merit by distinguished living artists. Iagos Mirror is a perfect fit within our comprehensive glass collection. Wilson was born in the Bronx, New York in 1954. He received a BFA from SUNY/Purchase where he was the only African American student in his program. A conceptual artist with a focus on social justice, he returns, with this object, to a common thread within his work: a meditation on themes in Shakespeares Othello. Iago is the jealous villain of the story who sets about destroying his friend Othello, a black man, through the deliberate sowing of jealousy and suspicion that his wife is unfaithful. When Iago looks in the mirror, all he sees is blacknessin this case, the blackness of his own soul. artists statement This sculpture was an attempt to create a world and an unrevealed narrative about life using a somewhat random collection of some of the many objects I have in my studio. The milk glass creates an otherworldly landscape on an oversized tabletop where an incident has happened and an encounter occurs. The plaster and ceramic characters appear to have an opinion about the event and a specific point of view about those present. They may also have some connection to the occurrence, but are not necessarily communicating their thoughts with each other. There are unsympathetic or apathetic on-lookers, and two in a tender and sad moment of silence, communicating with each other only through their eyes. The scene is one that occurs in life, and reoccurs in literature, opera, and particularly film, over and over again. However, this is one frame out of a long reel. We are left to ponder what has happened and what will happen next. The tragic image is familiar even if the specific story is not. In art, as in life we are always left with the question- "Why?"