maus contemporary - Willie Cole

Middle Passage

2012
iron scorches on wood
ca. 24 by 19 3/4 in.

Tricksters Among Us (Seen and Unseen)

2012
iron scorches and acrylic on wood
ca. 40 1/2 by 51 in

Warrior Seeds

2012
iron scorches and acrylic on wood
ca. 47 3/4 by 43 in

Tji Wara Mother and Child #1

2006
bicycle parts
ca. 33 by 16 by 32 in

Home Mark

2011
edition of only 16 !
intaglio print (spit bite and aquatint) on Rives BFK paper
signed, editioned, titled, and dated
ca. 23 3/4 by 18 5/8 on ca. 31 3/8 by 23 3/4 in. paper

¡No mas!

2011
edition of only 8 !!!
line etch, aquatint and chine collé on Rives BFK paper
signed, editioned, titled, and dated
ca 26 1/2 by 20 1/4 on ca. 32 1/2 by 25 1/2 in. paper

E²1000TM

1991
Photolithograph, with metallic powder additions
and collage (chine colle) on black Arches paper
see also image (detail) hereunder
edition of 30
signed and editioned on front
ca. 41 1/2 by 30 in.

click on the small image hereunder
and see the one in the MOMA collection

Curious Iron
2011
intaglio on BFK Rives
12 by 7 1/2 in.
(image 6 7/8 by 3 3/8 in.)
edition of 8 only !!!
signed and editioned on front
titled and dated on back

Pressed Iron Blossom No. 1 (brown and orange)

2005
unique color trial proof !!
(edition of 15 was 5-color "gray scale")
5-color color lithographaph on Somerset satin
signed in pencil (lower right) and with mention CTP#2 (lower left)
24 by 36 in.

Pressed Iron Blossom No. 2 (red center)

2005
unique color trial proof !!
(edition had a "cold yellow" center, sold out)
5-color lithographaph on white Somerset satin
mention CTP#1 in pencil (front, lower left)
22 1/8 by 30 in.

Pressed Iron Blossom No. 2 (all blue)

2005
unique color trial proof !!
(edition was blue, warm yellow, pink, and "cold yellow" center, sold out)
5-color lithographaph on Rives BFK
signed on back (center) and with mention CTP#2 (front, lower left)
22 1/8 by 30 in.

Pressed Iron Blossom No. 3

2005
last one available (edition of 22 is sold out)
5-color lithographaph on white Somerset satin
signed in pencil, mention "approval to print",
and dated 12/20/05 (on back)
35 7/8 by 47 3/4 in.

Pressed Iron Bud    (mint - pink)

2005
unique color trial proof !!
(edition of 20 was 3-color "purple")
3-color lithographaph on white Rives BFK
signed in pencil (front, lower right),
and mention CTP in pencil (front, lower left)
30 by 22 in.

two new bronze sculptures !!

click on the image to access Willie Cole's new bronze sculptures

The Worrier
2011-2012
bronze
pictured: no. 3 (red patina) of a limited edition of 7
(each of the 7 in a different color/color combination)
ca. 21 3/4 by 8 3/4 by 10 3/4 in.

click on the image to access Willie Cole's new bronze sculptures

Downtown Goddess
2012
bronze
pictured: no. 1 ("ivory-white" patina) of a limited edition of 7
(each of the 7 in a different color/color combination)
ca. 36 by 9 by 9 in.

2 important prototypes
In 1993, Willie Cole made his three first shoe sculptures ever.
Two of these highly desirable prototypes are now available for the first time ever.



Pink Leather Venus
1993
shoes, wire, wood putty
ca. 18 1/2 in. H by 8 1/4 in. W by 11 1/2 in. D




Black Leather Venus
1993
shoes, wire, wood putty
ca. 22 1/4 in. H by 7 in. W by 8 1/2 in. D

ShooFLY

click on the image
and read about Willie's new animation project

several very powerful and rare "scorches" on paper from 1999

Important single scorches on paper

the last two available from that period
1999
each ca. 11 3/4 by 9 in.

ca. 14 1/2 by 12 1/2 in.
SOLD

ca. 14 1/2 by 12 3/4 in.
SOLD

a rare Stowage Study

1997
woodcut
red ink, and red tape on paper
ca. 56 1/4 by 104 3/4 in.

"I think that when one culture is dominated by another culture, the energy or powers or gods of the previous culture hide in the vehicles of the new cultures. . .
I think the spirit of Shango (Yoruba god of thunder and lightning) is a force hidden in the iron because of the fire, and the power of Ogun--his element is iron--is also hidden in these metal objects.

Stowage is a woodcut, and it's made by embedding actual objects into plywood, then inking those objects and the wood itself, and then putting paper with that and burnishing the back of the paper. So, it's probably one of the most primitive styles of printmaking. I cut holes in the plywood, and then I cut circles to fit the hole, and then I cut the shape of the iron out of the circle that fits the hole, and I put the iron sole into the hole. The reason I did it that way is because I wanted to use the line from the cut as part of the design. I could have just put the iron into the plywood, only cutting out the shape of the iron, but I wanted to have the circle around it also. Then the center panel is actually a piece of plywood where the shape of the ironing board has been cut out and then the ironing board is embedded in that. The word "stowage" refers to human cargo on a ship, transporting slaves to the so-called "new world." I discovered this image in a history book that I had received when I was a kid called Ebony Guide to Negro History. It came out in maybe 1965, and they had this chart that showed the slave ship. It's a very popular image, it's probably in most history books. They don't show you the real serious, heart–wrenching images. They show you the drawing of the ship, and the drawing of the slaves stacked like sardines. As soon as I saw that image, it looked like an ironing board to me. And the same way I have a collection of irons, at that time I had a collection of ironing boards too. So I chose one that had lots of detail, because there were lots of slaves stashed or stuffed in every ship. And the iron images around there can represent the way the slaves were laid into the ship, or they can represent the various tribes that each African came from, before they became slaves in the U.S. So it's kind of like a chart, too, to indicate these things. The piece is made as a woodcut because I wanted the patterns in the plywood to simulate the patterns in the ocean."

Willie Cole's powerful images have offered visual commentary on economic, political, social and racial issues agains the backdrop of relational tension between male and female gender roles. The steam iron, the signature motif most associated with Cole's art, is an iconic symbol which holds great personal meaning for the artist.

In this new work entitled Home and Hearth, the emblematic flat iron icon represents the fecundity of womanhood, and the motile energy of the male.
Together they contain the heated origin of all multiples: conception. In speaking about the meaning of his imagery, Cole said that it represented the female power of creation personified in the Yoruba tradition by two orishas or goddesses. The various blues symbolize Yernaya, whose element is water. The iron shape represents the household, the domicile, and traditional realm of the female. In this composition, the heat and aggression of the male are represented by the yellow-orange and by the translucent sperm shapes swimming around and through the female fecundity. Oshun, the second orisha, is the epitome of beauty and she justifies the colors and composition. The gradiations in the print make the background emerge, as it is "birthing". Thus, the collaboration includes the Yoruba tradition and ancient practices as well as contemporary technology and aesthetics.