Artist Talk: Sculptor and Printmaker Willie Cole

To mark the opening of his Haley Gallery exhibition, Lyrical Reconstructions, American sculptor and printmaker Willie Cole will discuss his artwork, which blends familiar consumer objects with references to appropriated African and African American images, often incorporating steam irons and their scorch marks, ironing boards, and high-heeled shoes. His most recent works—such as Ornithology, his 2022 commission for the Kansas City International Airport—repurpose discarded water bottles or musical instruments. Lyrical Reconstructions includes new works created for the exhibition using musical instruments, along with past pieces that highlight Cole’s use of art and found objects to address social injustices throughout his thirty-plus-year career. Anne Collins Smith, director of the Xavier University of Louisiana Art Gallery, will moderate the discussion. She is a 2021 Center for Curatorial Leadership fellow and serves on the boards of the Association of Art Museum Curators and the New Orleans African American Museum.