COVID-19 UPDATE

April 24, 2020

Virtual Visiting Artist

Since 2005 Willie Cole has been an in-demand speaker, mentor, and visiting artist on university campuses, in museums, and in art schools across the globe. As such he has inspired generations of art students, aspiring artists, and emerging artists of all ages to be(come) their most creative selves.

Due to the social changes brought upon our society by COVID-19, Mr. Cole is now offering his services virtually. Please contact admin@williecole.com to schedule a session or to get more information.

Mr. Cole is virtually available for all of the following:

Critique Session for individuals, classrooms, or groups (via video conferencing or email)
Artist Talk w/ Q&A (via video conferencing)
Individual Portfolio Review (via email)
Individual Studio Visit (via video conferencing)

Over the past 15 years Mr. Cole has been hosted by Pennsylvania State University (PA), Florida International University (FL), SUNY Binghamton (NY), Rutgers University (NJ), The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PA), The New Museum (NY), New Jersey College of Engineering (NJ), The Montclair Library (NJ), The school of Visual Arts (NYC), Occidental College (CA), The Metropolitan Museum (NY), Michaelis School of Art (SA), The San Antonio Museum of Art (TX), The Flinn Gallery (CONN), The Palmer Museum (FL), The Hunter Museum (TN), and many more.

Newark Museums's Virtual Community Day: Celebrating Earth

April 20, 2020

Wille Cole joined the Newark Museum of Art’s Virtual Community Day to talk about his recent work “The Water Bottle Giant.” Made up of 10,000 water bottles collected and assembled with the help of the community, this work highlights issues such as the lack of clean drinking water and accumulation of plastic waste.

Mr. Cole continues to be available for virtual bookings during this time, including, but not limited to, conferences, artist talks, critique sessions, and portfolio reviews. Please see here for more details.

MFA’s ‘Elsa Dorfman’ and ‘Personal Space’ exhibits are powerful examples of the evolution of self-portraiture

March 01, 2020

BOSTON - Advertising and documentary photographer Elliott Erwitt once said, “The whole point of taking pictures is so you don’t have to explain things with words.”

He might have been describing two intriguing exhibits about portrait photography at the Museum of Fine Arts that have more in common than meets viewers’ eye.

Organized to complement the groundbreaking examination of British painter Lucian Freud’s self-portraits, “Elsa Dorfman: Me and My Camera” and the group show “Personal Space: Self-Portraits on Paper,” have used self-portraiture to express their varied identities in unpredictable ways.

Willie Cole’s photo etching “Man Spirit Mask” uses household items like a steam iron to create a mirror image of half his face marked with African scarification and ritualistic tattooing to forge a powerful meditation on race and identity.