Podcast Summary: All Of It – "Last Chance To Catch John Wilson's Art At The Met"

Host: Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Guests: Jennifer Farrell (Co-curator, The Met); Leslie King Hammond (Co-curator and Founding Director, Center for Race and Culture at the Maryland Institute College of Art)
Date: February 6, 2026
Exhibit Discussed: Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson
Duration Covered: [00:09]–[06:15]

Overview

This episode spotlights the final days of "Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Host Alison Stewart speaks with co-curators Jennifer Farrell and Leslie King Hammond about John Wilson — a pioneering African-American artist whose six-decade career explored family, identity, justice, and the lived experience of Black Americans in the US, especially amid wartime and the Civil Rights movement.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origins and Collaboration Behind the Exhibit

• Jennifer Farrell explains the unique origin story of the joint exhibition between the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Met:
  • Both Boston and New York curators independently proposed John Wilson shows, not knowing about each other’s efforts.
  • After learning of the overlap, the institutions collaborated, tailoring the Boston exhibition more towards Wilson’s relationship with his hometown, while New York introduced Wilson to an audience perhaps less familiar with his full range.
  • “If we don’t do it, someone else will.” — Jennifer Farrell [01:31]

2. Family as a Foundation in Wilson's Work

• Wilson’s emphasis on family — especially Black parents and children — is not just thematic but deeply personal:
  • Portraits of his own family feature in the first room of the show: siblings, himself, his Roxbury neighborhood.
  • Wilson subverted prevailing art traditions, particularly the predominance of white mothers and children, by showcasing Black fathers, sons, and broader family units.
  • Jennifer Farrell: “He would often tell [his family] to stop what they're doing and pose… really a challenge to this kind of representations in art, where so often it’s mother and child, so often it’s the white mother and the white child. And here he’s showing not only Black parents…but he’s also showing fatherhood.” [02:30]
  • Wilson also contributed illustrations to children's books that highlighted the strength of Black American families.

3. Standout Works That Capture Wilson’s Impact

• Host Alison Stewart asks which single piece each curator wants the public to contemplate for a few extra seconds:
  • Leslie King Hammond is most moved by Wilson’s rare depictions of Black fathers and sons:
    • “He is one of the few, especially African American artists, who ever did father and son. Rare, rare, gifted. Just—I stand in front of it and I get palpitations every time…it reminds me of him talking about reading, sitting on his father’s lap when he’s a young boy and sharing that moment.” [04:13]
    • This theme runs through Wilson’s sculpture and prints, including public art, like the “Father and Child Reading” sculpture outside Roxbury Public Library.
  • Jennifer Farrell selects “Adolescence,” shown in both drawing and print in the exhibit:
    • Represents a young boy’s alienation and connection to community, highlighting both the importance of education and the inequities facing Black communities.
    • The work was quickly recognized, being acquired by Smith College and MoMA shortly after its creation.
    • “He refers to it as a self-portrait…I think that that resonates with so many feelings people have today within their community.” [04:55]

4. Wilson's Broader Legacy and Relevance

• Wilson was not only an artist but a teacher for decades, influencing generations, and using his work to comment on themes of labor, community, and social justice.
• His art continues to speak powerfully to current discussions on representation, identity, and equity.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jennifer Farrell on bringing the show to NYC:
  “If we don’t do it, someone else will.” [01:31]

• On subverting traditions in art:
  “He’s showing not only Black parents…but he’s also showing fatherhood. And that was on the cover of the Reporter, one of the Father and Children [images].” — Jennifer Farrell [02:30]

• On the emotional potency of “Father and Son”:
  “I am just driven by the fact that he is one of the few…who ever did father and son. Rare, rare, gifted…every time because it reminds me of him talking about reading, sitting on his father’s lap when he’s a young boy and sharing that moment.” — Leslie King Hammond [04:13]

• On “Adolescence” and universal resonance:
  “Of the young boy, both alienated and connected…he refers to it as a self-portrait…I think that that resonates with so many feelings people have today within their community.” — Jennifer Farrell [04:55]

Important Timestamps

• The exhibit background and curatorial partnership: [01:05]–[02:18]
• Discussion of family and Black parent/child representation: [02:18]–[03:58]
• Curators’ picks for must-see works in the exhibit: [04:08]–[06:15]

Final Note

This episode offers an urgent invitation to witness the power, intimacy, and social depth of John Wilson’s art — and preserves curatorial insight into why his work is pivotal both for art history and for today’s ongoing conversations about representation, family, and community in America.