A retrospective of nationally renowned artist and Pine Bluff native Kevin Cole opens soon at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas.
The opening reception for “Pushing Forward: Politics, Social Conflict, and the Racial Divide in the Art of Kevin Cole” is 5-7 p.m, March 14. The event is free and open to the public.
Cole, who lives in the Atlanta area, will be on hand and give an artist talk during the reception, according to a news release.
“Pushing Forward” is a collection of his paintings, prints, and sculptures developed throughout his career. The exhibition features 43 of Cole’s works, composed of mixed-media sculptures and two-dimensional pieces. It includes recent work from 2022 and reaches as far back as the 1970s with pieces completed when he was a teen.
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Cole’s art explores the lives of African Americans in the United States, addressing such topics as lynching, voting rights, and religion through African design elements. With the use of these known African aesthetics in his art, he became a member of the famed AfriCOBRA collective.
“Kevin Cole’s abstract works are imbued with symbolism that speaks to the legacy of racial injustice,” said Treston Sanders, curator of the arts program at the University of Maryland Global Campus. “Pushing Forward” debuted there in September 2024 before moving to ASC.
“Recurring motifs of knots, tangles, and loops are sinister references to a story passed down from Cole’s grandfather that recounts brutal lynchings of young African Americans by their neckties,” Sanders explained. “Cole’s works are also noted for their vibrant colors and dynamic patterns, presenting the enduring strength and resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.”
Cole himself detailed the work.
“Since 1992, my art has been based on the relationship between sight, sound and color, which deals with music from the African American community such as jazz, rap, hip hop, gospel, and blues,” Cole said. “Thus, my work is rooted in a place of targeted tragedy. Its curvilinear twists, knots, and loops are fed by the energy found in the souls of all those who toil and triumph every day against the 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 visible to the eye, but it can be decoded.”
“Pushing Forward” is on view from March 14 to Sept. 6 in the International Paper Gallery at ASC. The exhibition is sponsored by Simmons Bank.
Cole received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Master of Arts degree in art education from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and Master of Fine Arts degree from Northern Illinois University, where he was a Rhoden Smith Scholar.
Within the past 32 years, he has received 27 grants and fellowships, 66 awards in art and 51 teaching awards.
His recent awards include receiving a Proclamation from the City of South Fulton, Ga., proclaiming Feb. 1, 2022, Kevin Cole Day; the Working Artist Fellowship in 2021 from Museum of Contemporary Art in Georgia; the 2020 Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities in the State of Georgia; the 2020 Trail Blazer Award from Salem Bible Church, in Atlanta; the 2019 Nexus Award from the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center; the Art Aspiration Award by the National Society Incorporation for his dedication to students’ achievements.
His artwork has been featured in more than 490 exhibitions and 4,000 public, private and corporate collections throughout the United States and abroad.
Public collections include the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas; the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., High Museum of Art in Atlanta; William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock; Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock; Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut; Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans; Dayton Institute of Art in Ohio; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia; and Georgia Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta.
Corporate collections include Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C.; IBM in New York City; and King and Spaulding Law Firm in Atlanta. Private collectors include Michael Jordan and John and Monica Pearson of Atlanta.
Cole has also created more than 45 public artworks, including the Coca-Cola Centennial Olympic Mural for the 1996 Olympic Games.
Learn more about Cole at kevinecoleart.com.
‘PROMETHEUS BOUND’
The March 14 reception coincides with a 7 p.m. performance of a modern telling of “Prometheus Bound” at the Arts & Science Center’s sister facility, ART WORKS on Main, 627 S. Main St. Visitors are encouraged to attend both events.
“This innovative production reimagines the story of Prometheus — imprisoned for giving humanity the spark of life — as a reflection of the social injustices faced by Black men in America. With themes of courage, resilience, and inequitable justice, this performance aims to create a poignant tribute to the ongoing struggles and triumphs of the communities of Black, Indigenous and people of color,” according to the news release.
Details about the “Prometheus Bound” performance is available at artx3.org/all-events/prometheus-bound.
For more information about the Cole exhibition, contact Programs Director Shakeelah Rahmaan at srahmaan@artx3.org or 870-536-3375 or visit artx3.org/exhibitions/kevin-cole-pushing-forward.
Kevin Cole’s ‘A Child’s View’ is one of the 43 works in ‘Pushing Forward: Politics, Social Conflict, and the Racial Divide in the Art of Kevin Cole,’ at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas. The exhibition opens March 14 with a free reception from 5-7 p.m. (Special to The Commercial/ARTX3 Campus)
Kevin Cole’s ‘Stressful Challenges I’ is one of the 43 works in ‘Pushing Forward: Politics, Social Conflict, and the Racial Divide in the Art of Kevin Cole,’ at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas. The exhibition opens March 14 with a free reception from 5-7 p.m. (Special to The Commercial/ARTX3 Campus)