Outside Visionary


One of the aspects of Willie Cole that is significant is the multiplicity of visions and experiences that he incorporates in his work.

Reconstructing what was once abandoned into something never expressed before; incorporating women’s vernacular into his work though he is not, he truly moves multiple experiences from the outside to the inside and back.

This year Mr. Cole participated in a conference on public art that the Newark Arts Council in conjunction with the City of Newark and the Newark Museum hosted. 

Mr. Cole who has been in numerous international public art venues, continues to work with grassroots organizations is represented by Alexander Bonin Gallery www.alexanderandbonin.com.

WILLIE COLE | OUTSIDE CULTURES INTERVIEW 

"My vision for Public art is that it engage people in an active way  for generations to come.  That it be representative of the community and cultures that inhabit the area around it." - Willie Cole

(This interview was conducted in August 2007.)

Noelle Lorraine Williams |What do you wish to stimulate when you (re) represent communal history, memory and objects?  Do you feel urgency in your need to work and produce?


Willie Cole |My goal usually is to compress time, that means to make the past, present, andfuture discernible at a glance.  Of course some people will see this quickly while other will see it only over time.  Urgency?  No. 

There's the typical artist' need to create because that's what I do.  It's like breathing and I therefore can only go a short time without doing it in some form or another. 


Noelle Lorraine Williams| What are the most significant contributions of public and outside art in assisting people in understanding and orienting themselves in this world?  In what ways do you feel that non institutional public art acts?