About Willie Cole
Willie Cole (b. 1955 in Somerville, New Jersey) lives and works in New Jersey.
His work has been the subject of several one-person museum exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1998), Bronx Museum of the Arts (2001), Miami Art Museum (2001), Tampa Museum of Art (2004), University of Wyoming Art Museum (2006), Montclair Art Museum (2006), College of Wooster Art Museum (2013-14).
In 2010, a survey exhibition of his work on paper (1975-2010) took place at the James Gallery of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and traveled to Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama and Rowan University Art Gallery, New Jersey.
Several of his sculptures were included in “Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2011). In 2013, a traveling exhibition “Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall Works” opened at Albertine Monroe-Brown Gallery at Western Michigan University.
In 2015, Cole’s work was included in “Represent: 200 Years of African American Art” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and “Wild Noise: Artwork from the Bronx Museum of the Arts” at El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana. In 2016, his work was included in “Disguise: Masks and Global African Art” at the Brooklyn Museum.
“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 in 2016. The following year, Cole had solo exhibitions at the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame and at the College of Architecture and Design Gallery at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. In 2019, “Willie Cole: Beauties” opened at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University as well as “Willie Cole: Bella Figura” at Alexander and Bonin, New York.
Vogue, Nov. 29, 2021 – Tod’s Celebrated its Collaboration With Artist Willie Cole With a Dinner in Miami
Luxury Daily, Sept. 10, 2021 – Tod’s commissions artist for unique artcycling initiative
Women’s Wear Daily, Sept. 7, 2021 – Highlights from a Special Edition of Milan Design Week
Art Review City, June 7, 2021 – The Future of Art: Willie Cole, a contemporary artist creating unique work and positive change.
Colossal, May 5, 2021 – Assembled Sculptures by Artist Willie Cole Cluster High Heels into Expressive Masks
Chrysler Museum of Art, Feb. 18, 2021 – Evolution of an Artist: In Conversation with Willie Cole
10 Magazine, Jan. 27, 2021 – Comme des Garçons Homme Plus: Menswear AW21
Vogue, Jan. 27, 2021 – Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Fall 2021 Menswear
V Magazine, Jan. 27, 2021 – Comme des Garçons Unveils Bold Fall/Winter 2021 Collection
L’Officiel Italia, Jan. 26 2021 – La dottrina dell’oscurità di Comme des Garçons Homme Plus
Amsterdam News, Jan. 23, 2020 – Artists, museum exhibition to commemorate 1st documented Africans in America
Hyperallergic, Dec. 30, 2019 – The Many Afterlives and Expressions of the African Diaspora
BOMB Magazine, Dec 12, 2019 – Oral History Project: Willie Cole by Nancy Princenthal
Office Magazine, June 21, 2019 – If the Shoe Fits
Hyperallergic, May 6, 2019 – Willie Cole, Shinique Smith, and Abigail DeVille Discuss Found Material in African-American Art
The Harvard Gazette, Apr. 2, 2019 – Seeing beauty in the mundane
Columbia College, Mar. 8, 2017 – Students work with world-renowned artist on Columbia visit
Boston University Today, Nov. 10, 2015 – Transforming Everyday Objects into Works of Art
The Boston Globe, Oct. 20, 2015 – Cole’s cheeky recycled-materials art prompts contemplation
Hyperallergic, Oct. 22, 2013 – Willie Cole’s High Heel Fantasias
ARTnews, Oct. 15, 2013 – Finding Soul in High Heel Shoes
Hyperallergic, May 1, 2013 – Upcycled: A Conversation With Willie Cole
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 5, 2012 – Willie Cole: Deep Impressions' emphasizes artist's ties to Newark, N.J
Art in America, June 4, 2010 – Willie Cole
Artforum, May 1, 2010 – Willie Cole
Palo Alto Online, Oct. 27, 2007 – Art in the everyday: Willie Cole finds wit and depth in consumer items
Art in America, May 1, 2006 – Willie Cole: the Energy of Objects
Sculpture Magazine, Mar. 1, 2006 – Willie Cole: the Other Side
SELECTED PRESS
Fort Worth Report, Oct. 31, 2023 – Fort Worth students prep bottles for art project with world-renowned artist
Architectural Digest, Oct. 4, 2023 – Inside Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad’s 19th-Century Brooklyn Town House
National Academy of Design, Sept. 21, 2023 – 2023 National Academicians Elected
Time Out, Jul. 11, 2023 – Chandeliers made of plastic water bottles decorate the UES in this new art project
NY1 news, Jul. 6, 2023 – Chandeliers made from recycled water bottles are on display on Park Avenue
Startland News, June 28, 2023 – After his eye-catching KCI installation took flight, Willie Cole had 100+ horns leftover; He kept building
NJArts.net, June 20, 2023 – ‘Seeing America’ galleries at Newark Museum of Art represent a reckoning with the past
Hyperallergic, May 3, 2023 – Artist Says Met Gala “Ripped Off” His Plastic Bottle Chandeliers
ARTnews, May 2, 2023 – Artist Willie Cole Says Met Gala Chandelier Was a ‘Blatant Ripoff’ of His Work
Ebony, Apr. 6, 2023 – MOMA’S Black Arts Council Establishes Million Dollar Endowment for Future Works from Black Artists
The New York Times, Feb. 23, 2023 – Willie Cole’s Ecological Interventions Turn Trash Into Art
Pérez Art Museum Miami, Feb. 14, 2023 – Pérez Art Museum Miami Announces Tenth Anniversary of Art + Soul Celebration
Rutgers, Feb. 1, 2023 – Artist Willie Cole to Unveil Chandelier Sculptures Made of 6,000 Water Bottles at Express Newark
KC Studio, Jan. 3, 2023 – At KCI, Jazz Meets Visual Art in Willie Cole’s ‘Ornithology’
MIKCexpore, Jan. 3, 2023 – Jazz Birds Take Flight at New Airport Terminal
Armando Cabral, Jan. 3, 2023 – Artist Spotlight: Willie Cole
The Platte County Citizen, Dec. 14, 2022 – An homage to the old KCI
FOX4 news, Nov. 10, 2022 – Jazz tribute to Charlie ‘Yardbird’ Parker graces new KCI terminal
ABC news, Oct. 21, 2022 – KCI Airport's new terminal to feature Charlie 'Bird' Parker-inspired artwork
CBS news, Oct. 21, 2022 – ‘Jazz Birds’: Artist’s sax sculptures ready to soar over new KCI terminal
The Art Biz, Aug. 10, 2022 – The Art Biz ep. 126: Play Tops Work, Connection Tops Solitude, and Confidence Tops Fear with Willie Cole
Hyperallergic, May 23, 2022 – Willie Cole Recycles Musical Instruments Into Outstanding Sculptures
Interior Design, Feb. 8, 2022 – 10 Questions With… Willie Cole
Cerebral Women, Feb. 8, 2022 – Episode 93: Conversation with Willie Cole