Jump to content

Folayemi Wilson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Fo Wilson)
Folayemi Wilson
Born
Folayemi Debra Wilson
NationalityAmerican
Other namesFo Wilson
Alma materNew York University Stern School of Business,[1]
Rhode Island School of Design[1]
Occupation(s)designer, furniture maker, artist, curator, writer, academic administrator
Known forgraphic design, installation art, furniture design
MovementAfrofuturism
AwardsMacDowell fellowship (2018)[2]
Websitewww.fowilson.com

Folayemi "Fo" Debra Wilson is an American interdisciplinary artist, designer, and academic administrator. Her practice includes work as a furniture designer and maker,[3] installation artist,[4] muralist,[5] and graphic designer.[1] Wilson is the first associate dean for access and equity in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture.[6][7]

Early life and education

[edit]

Wilson has an MBA degree from New York University Stern School of Business, and a MFA degree (2005) in furniture design from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[4][1]

Design career

[edit]

In her early career she worked as a graphic designer, art director, and creative director.[8][1] Wilson worked for Essence and YSB magazines.[1] In 1984, Wilson was named the first female art director at Essence magazine.[9] In 1991, she established Studio W., a graphic design studio, building off her professional experiences from work in the magazine industry.[1]

In August 2016, she co-founded with Norman Teague the blkHaUS Studios, a design studio based in Chicago.[7][10][11] Their work was social practice–focused, in order to make public spaces in Chicago more inviting.[11] The blkHaUS Studios' Back Alley Jazz project worked to revive the jazz culture and traditions found in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s; they brought together local musicians, architects and artists to build events and performance spaces.[11][12]

Visual art career

[edit]

In 1995, Renee Cox, Fo Wilson, and Tony Cokes created the Negro Art Collective (NAC) to fight cultural misrepresentations about Black Americans.[13]

In 2008, Wilson constructed a fictitious, 19th-century style scientific exhibition commemorating Sartje Baartman (also known as "The Hottentot Venus") during a residency at the School of Art + Design at SUNY/Purchase.[14]

Her 2016 installation Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities, was a constructed, full-scale, 19th century, fictional, slave cabin with a cabinet of curiosities full of a 100 items of what an African American woman of this time period may have owned or dreamed of owning.[8][15] Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities was an ongoing, Afrofuturist project and was used as a location for related events and performances; on display in 2016 to 2017 at the Lynden Sculpture Garden in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[15][16]

In 2019, she was commissioned to create public art for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) within the newly built Damen Green Line station.[17][5][18] Her work is in the museum collection at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.[2] Wilson has served on the board of the American Craft Council (ACC).[2]

Academic career

[edit]

In July 2021, Wilson was appointed as first associate dean for access and equity in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture.[6][7] She previously was the co-director of academic diversity, equity and inclusion at the Columbia College Chicago.[6]

Publications

[edit]
  • McLaughlin, Beth; Wilson, Fo (2010). The New Materiality: Digital Dialogues at the Boundaries of Contemporary Craft (exhibition). Stephanie Cole (artist). Fuller Craft Museum. ISBN 9780934358217.
  • Wilson, Fo (2013). The Baartman Diaries (Chicago, Illinois: Studio W Editions).
  • Dark Matter: Celestial Objects as Messengers of Love in These Troubled Times (exhibition). Folayemi Wilson (artist). Candor Arts. 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Bateman, Anita; Vendryes, Margaret. "Onward Fo! From Graphic Designer To Conceptual Artist And More". International Review of African American Art (IRAAA). Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  2. ^ a b c "Fo Wilson – Artist". MacDowell. 2018. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  3. ^ Visser, Deirdre (2022-03-16). Joinery, Joists and Gender: A History of Woodworking for the 21st Century. Routledge. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-000-54549-4.
  4. ^ a b "Conversation: Making Sound". Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. 24 June 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  5. ^ a b Wisniewski, Mary (3 May 2019). "West Side must wait until 2021 for new CTA Green Line station at Damen". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  6. ^ a b c Walsh, Niall Patrick (July 19, 2021). "Penn State Architecture appoints first associate dean for access and equity". Archinect. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  7. ^ a b c "News: Folayemi Wilson named as Penn State Arts & Architecture's first associate dean for access and equity". Best Architecture Masters. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  8. ^ a b "A Look Inside Eliza's Cabinet of Curiosities". International Review of African American Art (IRAAA). Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  9. ^ Art Direction, Volume 36. National Association of Art Directors, National Society of Art Directors. Advertising Trade Publications. April 1984. p. 8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ^ "The Chicago Monuments Project Grapples With The Hard History Of Some City Statues". WBEZ Chicago. 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  11. ^ a b c Adamson, Glenn. "The State of American Craft Has Never Been Stronger". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  12. ^ Reich, Howard (March 14, 2018). "Back Alley Jazz Revives a Chicago Tradition". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. pp. 4–2. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  13. ^ "Wilson, Fo. (active Milwaukee, WI, 2010)". African American Visual Artists Database (AAVAD). 2010-09-17. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  14. ^ Wilson, Fo (2013). The Baartman diaries. Carla Williams. Chicago, Illinois. ISBN 978-0-615-67669-2. OCLC 967781217.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ a b "Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities at Lynden Sculpture Garden". Wisconsin Gazette. 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  16. ^ "Fo Wilson: Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities". Lynden Sculpture Garden. June 19, 2016. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  17. ^ "Damen Avenue at Lake Street transportation facility returns train access to neighborhood". Building Design + Construction (BD + C). 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  18. ^ "New $60 Million Damen Green Line Station Set To Open In 2021, Officials Say". Block Club Chicago. 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2022-02-13.