American, b. 1955
Cole transforms objects, from steam irons to high heeled shoes, into sculptures, installations, and works on paper. Mining his heritage and confronting the legacies of slavery in the United States, Cole creates work that uncovers ways objects store memories.
Significant monographic exhibitions include: Museum of Modern Art, New York; Bronx Museum of the Arts; Miami Art Museum; Tampa Museum of Art; University of Wyoming Art Museum; Montclair Art Museum. A survey of thirty-five years of work on paper traveled from James Gallery of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, to Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, to Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama, and Rowan University Art Gallery, New Jersey. In 2013, a traveling exhibition “Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall Works” opened at Albertine Monroe-Brown Gallery at Western Michigan University. Willie Cole: On-Site opened at the David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland and traveled to the Museum of Art at the University of New Hampshire, and Arthur Ross Gallery, Philadelphia. The following year, Cole had solo exhibitions at the Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame and at the College of Architecture and Design Gallery, New Jersey Institute of Technology. In 2019, Willie Cole: Beauties opened at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Significant monographic exhibitions include: Museum of Modern Art, New York; Bronx Museum of the Arts; Miami Art Museum; Tampa Museum of Art; University of Wyoming Art Museum; Montclair Art Museum. A survey of thirty-five years of work on paper traveled from James Gallery of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, to Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, to Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama, and Rowan University Art Gallery, New Jersey. In 2013, a traveling exhibition “Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall Works” opened at Albertine Monroe-Brown Gallery at Western Michigan University. Willie Cole: On-Site opened at the David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland and traveled to the Museum of Art at the University of New Hampshire, and Arthur Ross Gallery, Philadelphia. The following year, Cole had solo exhibitions at the Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame and at the College of Architecture and Design Gallery, New Jersey Institute of Technology. In 2019, Willie Cole: Beauties opened at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
