Fred Wilson (born 1954) is an American artist. He describes himself as of "African, Native American, European and Amerindian" descent. Wilson received a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" in 1999 and the Larry Aldrich Foundation Award in 2003. Wilson represented the United States at the Biennial Cairo in 1992 and the Venice Biennale in 2003. In May 2008, it was announced that Wilson would become a Whitney Museum trustee replacing Chuck Close.
Wilson is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York.
Career
An alumnus of Music & Art High School in New York, Wilson received a BFA from SUNY Purchase in 1976, where he was the only black student in his program. He says that he no longer has a strong desire to make things with his hands. “I get everything that satisfies my soul,” he says, “from bringing together objects that are in the world, manipulating them, working with spatial arrangements, and having things presented in the way I want to see them.”
An installation artist and political activist, Wilson's subject is social justice and his medium is museology. In the 1970s, he worked as a free-lance museum educator for the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Crafts Museum. Beginning in the late 1980s, Wilson used his insider skills to create a series of "mock museums" that address how museums consciously or unwittingly reinforce racist beliefs and behaviors.
Fred Wilson started as an associate and then became a General Partner at Euclid Partners. He worked at Euclid Partners from 1987 to 1996.
In 1996 Wilson and Jerry Colonna founded Flatiron Partners, which was named after the Flatiron District. Based in New York City, it grew into an investment fund that focused primarily on follow-on investing, with investments in notable dot-com bubble successes and failures, including Alacra, comScore Networks, Yoyodyne, Geocities, Kozmo.com, New York Times Digital, PlanetOut, Return Path, Scout electromedia, Standard Media International, Starmedia, and VitaminShoppe.com. The firm's 1996 fund capitalized at $150million with two investors: SOFTBANK Technology Ventures and Chase Capital Partners, the private-equity arm of Chase Manhattan Corp. The firm later raised another fund capitalized at $500million with Chase Capital Partners as the sole active LP. In 2001 Wilson and Colonna shut down Flatiron.
Fred Wilson is interviewed by Aaron Harris at Startup School NY 2014
published: 20 Jun 2014
OWS 2020 | Special Guest Fred Wilson
Join co-founder of Union Square Ventures and investor Fred Wilson for a Special Guest Session moderated by Maria Shen of Electric Capital.
published: 21 Nov 2020
Fred Wilson’s museum interventions
Beginning in the early 1990s, Fred Wilson shook the museum world with his artistic interventions. At the Maryland Historical Society, he used the conventions of the the museum itself to comment on race, with startling juxtapositions such as 19th century armchairs displayed with slave shackles and a whipping post amongst finely crafted woodwoorking. His work uncovers inherent cultural biases and disrupts the more traditional way many Americans understand museums.
Related ideas:
Wilson's repurposing of racist kitsch: https://youtu.be/CKyxA-Xw55E
Wilson's strange collections: https://youtu.be/k1hrrIpCJbI
Should art be political? https://youtu.be/aVp-ZXPu3gk
Deconstructing museums: https://youtu.be/efbSTM9aiYM
published: 03 Jun 2019
Fireside chat with Fred Wilson, Managing Partner, USV at Spero Ventures Founder Summit 2020
Fred has the distinction of hosting one of the most widely read VC blogs: "AVC: Musings of a VC", and he rewards readers with one post per day on topics ranging from his weekly “MBA Mondays” to musings on current events. At our recent Spero Ventures Founder Summit, we bring his blog to life for a wide-ranging discussion about startups and venture capital.
About Fred Wilson: Fred Wilson has been a venture capitalist since 1987. He currently is a partner at Union Square Ventures and also founded Flatiron Partners. Fred has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Fred is married with three children and lives in New York City. Fred is Chairman of the NYC Department of Education's CS4All Capital Ca...
Legendary VC Fred Wilson: "I hate corporate investing."
Legendary VC Fred Wilson: "I hate corporate investing...it's stupid. Corporations should BUY companies. [Startups that take corporate money] are doing business with the devil." Corporate VCs, VCs, corporate venture capital, and traditional venture capital discussed on stage at the Future of Fintech Conference (https://www.cbinsights.com/research-future-of-fintech).
published: 09 Aug 2016
Fireside chat between Fred Wilson and Olaf Carlson-Wee - Token Summit IV NYC May 2019
Talking Tokens. Fireside chat between Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures) and Olaf Carlson-Wee (Polychain)
Two pioneers and early believers discuss what they see, and how they think about the space.
published: 25 May 2019
NYC Tech Echosystem Projections | Fred Wilson | Talks at Google
A conversation with Google's Craig Nevill-Manning about where the NYC tech ecosystem is heading.
Fred discusses his views on what makes NYC a unique and fertile ground for tech innovation. He also talks about what he's done to bootstrap several major initiatives that expand access to Computer Science education in NYC public schools.
On Sept 16, 2015, a week after the taping, Fred's foundation CSNYC and the NYC Mayor's Office announced Computer Science For All, a 10-year, $80 million plan to bring computer science education to every single student in New York City public schools. Learn more: http://www.csnyc.org/computer-science-all
Fred Wilson is a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and chairman of CSNYC (NYC Foundation for Computer Science Education)
Beginning in the early 1990s, Fred Wilson shook the museum world with his artistic interventions. At the Maryland Historical Society, he used the conventions of...
Beginning in the early 1990s, Fred Wilson shook the museum world with his artistic interventions. At the Maryland Historical Society, he used the conventions of the the museum itself to comment on race, with startling juxtapositions such as 19th century armchairs displayed with slave shackles and a whipping post amongst finely crafted woodwoorking. His work uncovers inherent cultural biases and disrupts the more traditional way many Americans understand museums.
Related ideas:
Wilson's repurposing of racist kitsch: https://youtu.be/CKyxA-Xw55E
Wilson's strange collections: https://youtu.be/k1hrrIpCJbI
Should art be political? https://youtu.be/aVp-ZXPu3gk
Deconstructing museums: https://youtu.be/efbSTM9aiYM
Beginning in the early 1990s, Fred Wilson shook the museum world with his artistic interventions. At the Maryland Historical Society, he used the conventions of the the museum itself to comment on race, with startling juxtapositions such as 19th century armchairs displayed with slave shackles and a whipping post amongst finely crafted woodwoorking. His work uncovers inherent cultural biases and disrupts the more traditional way many Americans understand museums.
Related ideas:
Wilson's repurposing of racist kitsch: https://youtu.be/CKyxA-Xw55E
Wilson's strange collections: https://youtu.be/k1hrrIpCJbI
Should art be political? https://youtu.be/aVp-ZXPu3gk
Deconstructing museums: https://youtu.be/efbSTM9aiYM
Fred has the distinction of hosting one of the most widely read VC blogs: "AVC: Musings of a VC", and he rewards readers with one post per day on topics ranging...
Fred has the distinction of hosting one of the most widely read VC blogs: "AVC: Musings of a VC", and he rewards readers with one post per day on topics ranging from his weekly “MBA Mondays” to musings on current events. At our recent Spero Ventures Founder Summit, we bring his blog to life for a wide-ranging discussion about startups and venture capital.
About Fred Wilson: Fred Wilson has been a venture capitalist since 1987. He currently is a partner at Union Square Ventures and also founded Flatiron Partners. Fred has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Fred is married with three children and lives in New York City. Fred is Chairman of the NYC Department of Education's CS4All Capital Campaign and is co-Chairman of Tech: NYC.
Fred has the distinction of hosting one of the most widely read VC blogs: "AVC: Musings of a VC", and he rewards readers with one post per day on topics ranging from his weekly “MBA Mondays” to musings on current events. At our recent Spero Ventures Founder Summit, we bring his blog to life for a wide-ranging discussion about startups and venture capital.
About Fred Wilson: Fred Wilson has been a venture capitalist since 1987. He currently is a partner at Union Square Ventures and also founded Flatiron Partners. Fred has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Fred is married with three children and lives in New York City. Fred is Chairman of the NYC Department of Education's CS4All Capital Campaign and is co-Chairman of Tech: NYC.
Legendary VC Fred Wilson: "I hate corporate investing...it's stupid. Corporations should BUY companies. [Startups that take corporate money] are doing business ...
Legendary VC Fred Wilson: "I hate corporate investing...it's stupid. Corporations should BUY companies. [Startups that take corporate money] are doing business with the devil." Corporate VCs, VCs, corporate venture capital, and traditional venture capital discussed on stage at the Future of Fintech Conference (https://www.cbinsights.com/research-future-of-fintech).
Legendary VC Fred Wilson: "I hate corporate investing...it's stupid. Corporations should BUY companies. [Startups that take corporate money] are doing business with the devil." Corporate VCs, VCs, corporate venture capital, and traditional venture capital discussed on stage at the Future of Fintech Conference (https://www.cbinsights.com/research-future-of-fintech).
Talking Tokens. Fireside chat between Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures) and Olaf Carlson-Wee (Polychain)
Two pioneers and early believers discuss what they se...
Talking Tokens. Fireside chat between Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures) and Olaf Carlson-Wee (Polychain)
Two pioneers and early believers discuss what they see, and how they think about the space.
Talking Tokens. Fireside chat between Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures) and Olaf Carlson-Wee (Polychain)
Two pioneers and early believers discuss what they see, and how they think about the space.
A conversation with Google's Craig Nevill-Manning about where the NYC tech ecosystem is heading.
Fred discusses his views on what makes NYC a unique and fertil...
A conversation with Google's Craig Nevill-Manning about where the NYC tech ecosystem is heading.
Fred discusses his views on what makes NYC a unique and fertile ground for tech innovation. He also talks about what he's done to bootstrap several major initiatives that expand access to Computer Science education in NYC public schools.
On Sept 16, 2015, a week after the taping, Fred's foundation CSNYC and the NYC Mayor's Office announced Computer Science For All, a 10-year, $80 million plan to bring computer science education to every single student in New York City public schools. Learn more: http://www.csnyc.org/computer-science-all
Fred Wilson is a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and chairman of CSNYC (NYC Foundation for Computer Science Education)
A conversation with Google's Craig Nevill-Manning about where the NYC tech ecosystem is heading.
Fred discusses his views on what makes NYC a unique and fertile ground for tech innovation. He also talks about what he's done to bootstrap several major initiatives that expand access to Computer Science education in NYC public schools.
On Sept 16, 2015, a week after the taping, Fred's foundation CSNYC and the NYC Mayor's Office announced Computer Science For All, a 10-year, $80 million plan to bring computer science education to every single student in New York City public schools. Learn more: http://www.csnyc.org/computer-science-all
Fred Wilson is a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and chairman of CSNYC (NYC Foundation for Computer Science Education)
Beginning in the early 1990s, Fred Wilson shook the museum world with his artistic interventions. At the Maryland Historical Society, he used the conventions of the the museum itself to comment on race, with startling juxtapositions such as 19th century armchairs displayed with slave shackles and a whipping post amongst finely crafted woodwoorking. His work uncovers inherent cultural biases and disrupts the more traditional way many Americans understand museums.
Related ideas:
Wilson's repurposing of racist kitsch: https://youtu.be/CKyxA-Xw55E
Wilson's strange collections: https://youtu.be/k1hrrIpCJbI
Should art be political? https://youtu.be/aVp-ZXPu3gk
Deconstructing museums: https://youtu.be/efbSTM9aiYM
Fred has the distinction of hosting one of the most widely read VC blogs: "AVC: Musings of a VC", and he rewards readers with one post per day on topics ranging from his weekly “MBA Mondays” to musings on current events. At our recent Spero Ventures Founder Summit, we bring his blog to life for a wide-ranging discussion about startups and venture capital.
About Fred Wilson: Fred Wilson has been a venture capitalist since 1987. He currently is a partner at Union Square Ventures and also founded Flatiron Partners. Fred has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Fred is married with three children and lives in New York City. Fred is Chairman of the NYC Department of Education's CS4All Capital Campaign and is co-Chairman of Tech: NYC.
Legendary VC Fred Wilson: "I hate corporate investing...it's stupid. Corporations should BUY companies. [Startups that take corporate money] are doing business with the devil." Corporate VCs, VCs, corporate venture capital, and traditional venture capital discussed on stage at the Future of Fintech Conference (https://www.cbinsights.com/research-future-of-fintech).
Talking Tokens. Fireside chat between Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures) and Olaf Carlson-Wee (Polychain)
Two pioneers and early believers discuss what they see, and how they think about the space.
A conversation with Google's Craig Nevill-Manning about where the NYC tech ecosystem is heading.
Fred discusses his views on what makes NYC a unique and fertile ground for tech innovation. He also talks about what he's done to bootstrap several major initiatives that expand access to Computer Science education in NYC public schools.
On Sept 16, 2015, a week after the taping, Fred's foundation CSNYC and the NYC Mayor's Office announced Computer Science For All, a 10-year, $80 million plan to bring computer science education to every single student in New York City public schools. Learn more: http://www.csnyc.org/computer-science-all
Fred Wilson is a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and chairman of CSNYC (NYC Foundation for Computer Science Education)
Fred Wilson (born 1954) is an American artist. He describes himself as of "African, Native American, European and Amerindian" descent. Wilson received a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" in 1999 and the Larry Aldrich Foundation Award in 2003. Wilson represented the United States at the Biennial Cairo in 1992 and the Venice Biennale in 2003. In May 2008, it was announced that Wilson would become a Whitney Museum trustee replacing Chuck Close.
Wilson is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York.
Career
An alumnus of Music & Art High School in New York, Wilson received a BFA from SUNY Purchase in 1976, where he was the only black student in his program. He says that he no longer has a strong desire to make things with his hands. “I get everything that satisfies my soul,” he says, “from bringing together objects that are in the world, manipulating them, working with spatial arrangements, and having things presented in the way I want to see them.”
An installation artist and political activist, Wilson's subject is social justice and his medium is museology. In the 1970s, he worked as a free-lance museum educator for the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Crafts Museum. Beginning in the late 1980s, Wilson used his insider skills to create a series of "mock museums" that address how museums consciously or unwittingly reinforce racist beliefs and behaviors.
Three Charleston-trained carpenters will play a pivotal role in restoring and revitalizing the first president's estate ...Business. Forging ahead ... Joe Zemp/Provided ... Features. Gibbes Museum boasts new outdoor public sculpture by artist FredWilson ... News ... .
After weeks of deliberation and debate that pitted real estate developers against preservationists, Charleston CountyCouncil on Oct ... 14 ... News ... Buy Now ... 18, 2023, near Awendaw ... Gibbes Museum boasts new outdoor public sculpture by artist FredWilson ... News ... .
“Omniscience,” a permanent sculpture created by artist FredWilson, comprises fastidiously forged replicas of the towering black gates that for more than a century and a half have fronted the Miles Brewton House.
When artist FredWilson came to Charleston the first time in 2019 to deliver a lecture and prepare for an exhibition at the Gibbes Museum of Art, a particular object downtown caught his eye ... Artist ...
To get a better sense of just what makes this map work so well, I spoke with Beenox SeniorLevel Designer FredWilson and Lead Artist Guillaume Alain... “The canals are one of those things that really evolved the gameplay,” Wilson says.
These will appear on artist profiles and album pages, as well ...FredWilson, founder of Union Square Ventures and member of SoundCloud’s board since 2011, was also been appointed as the new chairman of the board.
The company also announced that FredWilson, founder of Union Square Ventures and�member of SoundCloud's board since 2011, has been appointed as the new chairman of the board ... role," said Fred Wilson.
Milad reveals that she has recently been commissioned by the Baltimore Museum of Art to create a site-responsive artwork in dialogue with a 1992 sculpture by the African-American artist FredWilson.