#ChasingArt
The Bittersweet Beauty of Advocacy
John Wilson - Witnessing Humanity
by Karen Gormandy, Fountain House Studio Director
“An artist is ipso facto critical of society...constantly dissecting...I want my art to reach people to get the message that my art has. I want their social attitudes to change as a result of the things I do.”
-John Wilson
The message is strong, clear, and powerful. In Witnessing Humanity at the Metropolitan Museum – it was certainly clear to us. Gabriel, Aracelis, Dominic, Pamela and I met on a Saturday morning to chase the art of John Wilson.
The Metropolitan Museum is always buzzing with people; tourists, New Yorkers, and on the first-floor group entrance, lots and lots of kids!
The exhibit was on the second floor, past a passageway of rotating exhibits; it was not hard to miss. At the entrance we were greeted by the monumental sculpture Eternal Presence, a powerful, idealized Black head symbolizing universal humanity that set the tone for Wilson’s haunting and powerful work.
"Eternal Presence"
John Wilson was born of immigrant parents in Roxbury Massachusetts in 1922. As a teen, Wilson took art classes and was art editor of his high school newspaper. From high school he went on with full scholarship to study at the Museum Fine Arts School and eventually graduated from Tufts before moving to Paris and subsequently Mexico.
Witnessing Humanity occupied three gallery spaces. The flow followed a trajectory beginning in Wilson’s childhood from his awareness of racial injustice and violence to adulthood and the largesse of planetary events including a world at war.
The first gallery featured at least three self-portraits – clearly demonstrating Wilson’s skill as an artist. Particularly noteworthy was the 1946 Self Portrait that the Met described as having “an overall haunting, uncanny quality.” In it, Wilson stares directly at us – with an artist’s unflinching gaze. Done in India ink and paper, the black and white piece features a reflection of a piece the artist is working on.
"Self Portrait," 1946
These self-portraits grounded us firmly in the artist's personal presence. Before being exposed to what he was creating, we already know where he came from and the impact it had on him.
Street Scene and Adolescence 1942 and 1943 respectively, depict the alienation of Wilson as a young black boy in the world. The boy, again, looks right at us, prominent in the composition – because everyone else in the frame is unaware of him. The child’s expression is lost; he is alone yet surrounded by people - people not small like him, but adults who go about their business, oblivious of the child in their proximity. He, though, may be very aware of them, but does not seem to know why he’s there.
"Street Scene," 1942
In the 1940’s Wilson saw clear parallels between fascism overseas and the treatment of black people in the United States. Greatly influenced by his time in Mexico he depicted the horrors of war and genocide in Deliver us from Evil that pairs Black lynching in the United States and the rise of the Nazi regime.
"Adolescence," 1943
The piece, crowded with depictions of excess, lynchings, war, poverty and suffering, is reflective of the vivid imagery of Jose Clemente Orozco.
Witnessing Humanity is a visual history of tumultuous times and includes themes of alienation, brutality, survival, and struggle. There are still people alive who lived through the horrors depicted in Wilson’s work. Yet generations later – we bury or forget the past, and the outcome may seemingly be described as a form of willful amnesia. By not facing our past we can remove ourselves from the very real brutality and ignore the possibility of history repeating itself. What we didn’t hear, didn’t see, didn’t experience still has a tremendous influence on who we have become.
The final gallery of the exhibit includes a variety of depictions of Martin Luther King Jr - from a sculptured bust to dramatic charcoal rendering. MLK embodied a shift in cultural and social attitudes and is a fitting final subject of the exhibit. MLK...a powerful symbol. John Wilson, through his work, in his own words wanted his art to be seen a catalyst for “social attitudes to change as a result of the things I do.”
Wilson’s advocacy was a visual witness. The show left us speechless.
Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson is on view through February 8, 2026.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Open Thursdays through Tuesdays
10AM - 5PM
Saturday and Sunday
10AM - 9PM
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
For tickets and info, click here.
#ChasingArt is a blog series by Fountain House Studio Director, Karen Gormandy, that reveals highlights and thoughts from our monthly museum trips.
On the third Saturday of each month, Fountain House Studio invites its members on an excursion to visit one of the hundreds of art museums across New York City. Read about past trips here.
Want to learn more about the Fountain House Studio? Visit Studio.
Photos courtesy of Karen Gormandy.