UpCycle
Willie Cole: UpCycle
This exhibition, presented in conjunction with Cole’s Virginia Tech Bottle Project next door, offers a selection of work leading up to and including his current work with recycled water bottles.
Cole came to prominence in the contemporary art world in the early 1990s with a body of work based on the steam irons that were part of his life growing up in a home otherwise occupied by women. The exhibition includes five photographic works that depict vintage irons from the artist’s collection; shot from above, they evoke African masks even as they declare themselves resolutely as beautifully designed steam irons.
Decades earlier, inspired by a scorch mark on the floor of a loft in which he then lived—and encouraged by his art dealer—he became known for a series of innovative “scorch” paintings and drawings, an example of which, Hot Bodies (Excerpt), 2014, is included in this show. Another work, Sunbeam Male, Ceremonial, also incorporates iron imagery. In this case, however, the artist uses digital manipulation to incorporate the bottom plates of steam irons in a faux tribal garment identifying him as part of the “Sunbeam” tribe. To some extent, this pokes a bit of fun at early anthropological texts, but it also foregrounds the bottom steam plates that he uses variously as references to scarification, masks, tribal “brands”, and more.
Cole has recycled irons, blow dryers, bicycles, and high heels over the years, often creating works that suggest African or Asian art objects. The Worrier, 2014, the bronze sculpture in the center of the gallery, is a scaled up version of a high-heel sculpture.
More recently, he has begun working with recycled water bottles, creating interior spaces, sculptures, automobiles and more. This exhibition includes three crushed water bottle paintings, two of which are composed of water bottles with painted surfaces and a third of clear bottles. As he has done throughout his career, Cole imbues abandoned and discarded consumer objects with power and beauty, elevating them aesthetically and spiritually, reminding us of our materialistic culture with art that transcends it.
