Kevin Cole: Along Color Lines:

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September 7th – November 10th, 2018

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Marta Hewett Gallery is proud to present Along Color Lines, an exhibition of signature mixed media constructions and works on paper by artist Kevin Cole, on view from September 7th through November 10th, 2018. 

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When I turned eighteen years old, my grandfather stressed the importance of voting by taking me to a tree where he was told that African-Americans were lynched by their neckties on their way to vote.  That experience left a profound impression on my mind. 

 

Throughout my artistic journey, the tie has been more than just a recurring motif or icon. Transformed from a symbol of powerlessness to a symbol of strength, it represents my beliefs in change, my sense of a more connected community and even my faith in a higher power.

 

Yet, it is misunderstood in that while it is rooted in a place of tragedy, the energy that drives its curvilinear twists, knots and loops is the energy found in the souls of ALL those who toil and triumph every day against all odds and against the unheralded tragedies of life.  My work is a universal story with both hero and villain, good and evil.  The narrative is embedded like html code.  It is not what one sees, but it can be decoded.

 

Through a continued examination of the relationship between color and music, particularly jazz, blues, hip-hop, and gospel, and the incorporation of patterns and textures from traditional African cloths, Kevin Cole creates powerful works which exuberantly challenge us each to appraise our own journey and celebrate the resiliency of the human spirit.. 

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Born in 1960, Atlanta based artist, Kevin Cole has been honored for his work as a high school teacher by the Georgia Art Education Association and the National Art Education Association. Cole received his BS in Art Education from University of Arkansas, his MA in Art Education and Painting from the University of Illinois, and his MFA in Drawing from Northern Illinois University. He is currently chairperson of the Fine Arts Department at Westlake High School in Atlanta and serves an Art Consultant at the Savannah College of Art & Design, Atlanta.

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Cole’s pieces are included in over 2500 public, private and corporate collections, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Museum, Washington D.C., the Brooks Museum, Memphis, TN, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA,  Houston Center, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA,  the Tampa Museum, Tampa, FL, the Virginia Center for the Arts, Sweetbriar, VA and the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. 

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In addition, Cole has completed more than thirty public art commissions, with works installed at the Charlottesville-Albermarle Airport, Charlottesville, VA, the Forest Avenue Public Library, Des Moines, IA, the Georgia International Convention Center, College Park, GA and Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA,  In 2016, Cole completed a major commission for the Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal at the Atlanta International Airport. "Soul Ties that Matter" is a monumental work measuring  20’w x 5.5'h x 2’d.

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