Last month the Georgia Museum of Art honored Kevin Cole with the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Award and John H. Morrow with the Lillian C. Lynch Citation at the Black History Month Dinner and Awards Celebration on February 28. Respectively, these two awards honor a living African American visual artist with a significant Georgia connection in an effort to raise his or her profile and an African American leader who has made a significant contribution to African American cultural education and service. Each year the event is held, it becomes more popular.
The night was filled with vibrant colors, with the décor echoing the artist’s works and nodding to this year’s national Black History Month theme “African Americans and the Vote.” Both Larry and Brenda Thompson were present at the event, along with previous recipients of the Thompson Award. The recipient of last year’s Thompson Award, Leo Twiggs, was the first African American to earn a doctorate in art education from the University of Georgia. His journey as a father, teacher and artist all inspire the way he executes his creations. Emma Amos, another previous recipient of this award, will have work on display in the exhibition “Emma Amos: Color Odyssey” at the museum, from January 30 to April 25, 2021. The national Black History Month theme was “Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories” when Amos received the award in 2016, and her work examines this topic by challenging expectations of black people and their art.
Kevin Cole’s multimedia works will be on display at the museum in “Kevin Cole: Soul Ties” until April 19. His work “When My Scars Are My Testimony,” on view in the museum’s M. Smith Griffith Grand Hall, uses twisted neckties made of etched aluminum to confront the history of African American suffrage. Cole’s expression of the importance of civil rights, particularly with his “necktie” pieces, was inspired when he turned 18 and his grandfather took him to a tree where African Americans were lynched by their neckties on their way to vote. This experience continues to influence Cole’s art.
When Shawnya Harris, the museum’s Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art, heard Cole’s story, she had no question as to who would be receiving the Thompson Award this year.
She said, “We were thrilled to honor Kevin Cole for his accomplishments as an artist and an educator who has made a significant impact in the state of Georgia. Cole’s personal history and its relationship to the main motif he uses in his work, the necktie, had a clear association with this year’s national theme for Black History Month.”
Cole’s work includes imagery of neckties as symbols of power and emphasizes the relationship between color and music, particularly jazz, blues, hip-hop and gospel. He incorporates patterns and textures from traditional African cloths to speak to human conditions and behaviors. In 1994, Cole was commissioned by the Coca-Cola Company to create a 15-story mural celebrating the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. The mural took two years to create and measures a little over 800 square feet.
On April 16 at 5:30 p.m, Cole will deliver a talk at the museum to discuss his works and artistic practice in conjunction with the exhibition.
By Giselle Brannam
