Cosmo Whyte Explained

Cosmo Whyte
Birth Place:	Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica
Education:	Bennington College (BFA), Maryland Institute College of Art, University of Michigan (MFA)
Occupation:	Visual artist, educator
Known For:	Sculpture, installation art, drawing, painting
Awards:	Tiffany Foundation Award (2019)

Cosmo Whyte (born 1982) is a Jamaican-born American visual artist and educator. His is known for work in sculpture, drawing, painting, and installation art, which often address his Caribbean heritage and topics such as racism, colonialism, migration, and police brutality.^[1] Whyte lives in Los Angeles, California, and teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).^{[2] [3]}

Early life and education

Cosmo Whyte was born in 1982, in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica.^[4] He started drawing at a young age.^[5] In 2001, he moved to the United States.^[6]

Whyte received a BFA degree in 2001 from Bennington College in Vermont; followed by study at a postbaccalaureate program at Maryland Institute College of Art; and a MFA degree in 2015 from the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design at University of Michigan.

Career

Whyte teaches in the School of the Arts and Architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles, since September 2022.^[7] He previously taught at Florida State University, and Morehouse College.^[8]

His solo exhibitions have included The Sea Urchin Can't Swim: Tales from the Edge of a World (2024) at Johnson Lowe Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia;^{[9] [10]} Hush Now, Don't Explain (2023) at Anat Ebgi Gallery in Los Angeles, California; and Beneath Its Tongue, The Fish Rolls The Hook To Sharpen Its Cadence (2019–2020) at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia in Atlanta, Georgia.^[11]

He is s recipient of The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2019), and the Art Matters Award (2019) from the Art Matters Foundation.^[12]

Whyte's artwork is in museum collections, including at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia; the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia in Atlanta, Georgia; the National Gallery of Jamaica in Kingston, Jamaica; and the Pérez Art Museum Miami in Miami, Florida.^[13]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• 2019–2020, Beneath Its Tongue, The Fish Rolls The Hook To Sharpen Its Cadence, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
• 2023, Hush Now, Don't Explain, Anat Ebgi Gallery, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
• 2024, The Sea Urchin Can't Swim: Tales from the Edge of a World, Johnson Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Group exhibitions

• 2012, Outward Reach: 9 Jamaican Photography and New Media Artists, Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, D.C., U.S.^[14]
• 2017, Jamaica National Biennial, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica^[15]
• 2020, 13th Havana Biennial, Matanzas, Cuba^[16]
• 2022, This Tender Fragile Thing, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York City, New York^{[17] [18]}

See also

• List of Jamaican artists

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Weber . Julia . 2024-07-29 . Transdisciplinary artist Cosmo Whyte to continue CVA lecture series . 2024-11-10 . . en-US.
2. News: White . Katie . July 31, 2023 . In His Downtown L.A. Studio, Artist Cosmo Whyte Works Nights Surrounded by Books, Beads, and Two Taxidermied Roosters . Artnet News.
3. Web site: Jackson . Leigh-Ann . 2023-07-28 . In artist Cosmo Whyte's hands, metal beaded curtains become sites of 'archival explorations' . 2024-11-10 . . en-US . 2165-1736.
4. News: Torija Nieto . Natalia . 2023 . Beaded Curtains, Family Legacies, And The Politics Of Image–Making . Pin-Up.
5. News: Louis . Pierre-Antoine . September 9, 2023 . How These Artists Learn From Each Other . . 1553-8095.
6. News: May 21, 2020 . Atlanta artist Cosmo Whyte adds Tiffany Foundation grant to his list of honors . Arts ATL.
7. Web site: Cosmo Whyte joins the faculty of UCLA’s Department of Art . UCLA Arts: School of the Arts and Architecture . en.
8. News: Feaster . Felicia . October 31, 2017 . Art review: Trauma of migration marks Cosmo Whyte’s solo show . 2024-11-10 . . English . 1539-7459.
9. Web site: Walljasper . Myrydd Wells . 2024-09-26 . The freedom that comes with creating art . 2024-11-10 . Atlanta Magazine . en-US.
10. Web site: Genis . Leia . 2024-09-29 . You’re Sleeping on Atlanta’s Art Scene . 2024-11-10 . . en-US.
11. News: Smith . TK . December 3, 2019 . Review: In MOCA GA show, Cosmo Whyte displays breadth, and hints at what’s nex . Arts ATL.
12. Web site: Sutton . Benjamin . 2020-05-12 . Winners of Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Artist Grants Include Deana Lawson and Paul Mpagi Sepuya . 2024-11-10 . Artsy . en.
13. Web site: August 2024 . Cosmo Whyte: The Mother’s Tongue, Pressed to the Grinding Stone . https://web.archive.org/web/20240818102429/https://www.artsclubchicago.org/exhibit/cosmo-whyte-the-mothers-tongue-pressed-to-the-grinding-stone/ . August 18, 2024 . . en-US.
14. Web site: Jacobson . Louis . 2012-08-03 . Reviewed: “Outward Reach” at Art Museum of the Americas . 2024-11-10 . Washington City Paper . en-US.
15. Web site: Gómez . Edward M. . 2017-03-11 . Jamaica Report: A Biennial, Bragging Rights — and the World’s Largest Drum? . 2024-11-10 . . en-US.
16. News: Damian . Carol . June 2019 . Ríos Intermitentes (Intermittent Rivers) . Art Nexus . 113.
17. Web site: 2022-02-03 . Asymptote Journal: Cosmo Whyte, Coming into Being and Disappearing . 2024-11-10 . FSU . en-US.
18. Web site: Heisler . Eva . February 3, 2022 . Cosmo Whyte, Coming into Being and Disappearing . 2024-11-10 . Asymptote Journal . en.