Cosmo Whyte’s (b. 1982, St. Andrew, Jamaica) large scale drawings pose the celebratory body of Jamaican and diasporic communities in states of jubilation. His figures, adorned with gold leaf and black glitter, defy their colonial past, tearing it from their bodies through unbridled dance.
Whyte received a BFA from Bennington College, VT and an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, MD. His work was included in the 13th Havana Biennial, Cuba (2019), as well as the Atlanta Biennial (2016) and the Jamaica Biennial (2017). Whyte has exhibited at The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (2019); The Drawing Center, New York, NY (2019); The Somerset House, London, UK (2019); Museum of Latin American Art, Los Angeles, CA (2017); Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA (2016); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (2016); National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica (2014); and MOCA Georgia, Atlanta, GA (2011).
He recently opened a solo exhibition of his work at MOCA Georgia, Beneath Its Tongue, The Fish Rolls The Hook To Sharpen Its Cadence, curated by Allison Glenn, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. His work is in the permanent collection of the High Museum, Atlanta, GA. Whyte is the Visual Art Program Director at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA where he lives and works.
EXHIBITIONS
Home is Not a Place, June 8 – July 13, 2019
Cosmo Whyte
- 1982
- Born in St. Andrews, Jamaica
- Lives in Atlanta, GA
Education
- 2015
- Master of Fine Arts, University of Michigan Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, MI
- 2007
- Post Baccalaureate, Maryland Institute College of Art, MD
- 2001
- BFA Painting, Bennington College, VT
Solo Exhibitions
- 2020
- TBD, Anat Ebgi (forthcoming), Los Angeles, CA
- 2019-2020
- Beneath Its Tongue, The Fish Rolls The Hook To sharpen Its Cadence, MOCA GA, Atlanta, GA
- 2017
- Starting A Bush Fire, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Don’t Whistle In The House, Chastain Art Center, Atlanta, GA
- 2015
- Wake the Town and Tell the People, Russell Industrial Center, Detroit, MI
- 2010
- High Tide, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Group Exhibitions
- 2019
- Art Basel Miami Beach, with Anat Ebgi Gallery, Miami, FL
- Life Through Extraordinary Mirrors, October Gallery, London, UK
- The Sea is History, Museum of Cultural History, Oslo, Norway
- 13th Havana Biennial, Matanzas, Cuba
- Get Up Stand Up, The Somerset House, London, UK
- What's Love Got to Do With It, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
- Of Origins and Belonging, Drawn from Atlanta, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
- Home is Not a Place, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA
- 2017
- Hudgens Prize Finalist Exhibition, Hudgens Center, Duluth, GA
- P.O.V., Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Building A Ship From The Shipwreck, MOCA GA, Atlanta, GA
- Selling the Shadow, C-Gallery, Milan, Italy
- Open Scene, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Relational Undercurrents, Museum of Latin American Art, Los Angeles, CA
- Jamaica Jamaica, La Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France
- 2016
- Selling the Shadow, Gallery Momo, Cape Town, South Africa
- Beautiful Tangle, Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, GA
- Atlanta Biennale, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA
- Musée On/Off, Musée L'ont Leux, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
- Wake the Town and Tell the People, Mana Contemporary, Newark NJ
- Jamaican Routes, Punkt ø/Galleri F 15, Oslo, Norway
- Masculinities, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2015
- Rites, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
- After-Afropolitan, The Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, NY
- Young Talent, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2014
- The Jamaica Biannual, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- In Retrospect: 40 years of the National Gallery of Jamaica National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- Bottom Feeders and the Distant Self Slusser Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
- 2013
- Forward Arts Foundation Artist of the year Retrospective, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- 2012
- Outward Reach: 9 Jamaican Photography and New Media Artists, Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC
- Talent Loves Company, Barbara Archer Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- 2011
- The African Continuum, United Nations Gallery, New York, NY
- Emerging Artists of 2011, Mutual Life Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica
- Home, Chastain Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Movers and Shakers, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Atlanta, GA
- 2010
- The Jamaica Biannual, National Museum of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- Open Season, Flanders Gallery, Raleigh, NC
- Art Fresh, Mutual Life Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2009
- Three Visions, Three Thoughts Southwest Art Center Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Small Works Show, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Summer Guest House, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Small Redux, Agnes Scott College’s Dalton Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- 2008
- Pepper Pot, UNC Chapel Hill, Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery,Chapel Hill, NC
- 2007
- ArteFeria: Rutas y Raices, CEFATI Gallery, Portobelo, Panama
- Icosahedrons, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Awards
- 2018
- Working Artist Program Award, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia
- NBAF 2018 Fashion and Fine Art: Visual Art Award Finalist
- 2018-2020 Open Sessions Award/Fellowship, Drawing Center, NYC
- Avalon Humanities Professorship, Morehouse College, Atlanta GA
- 2017
- Hudgens Prize Finalist
- Arbes Award
- 2016
- Artadia Award
- Walthall Artist Fellowship
- Southern Constellation Fellowship, Elsewhere Museum, NC
- 2015
- The Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Grant nominee
- CUE Foundation Finalist, NY
- Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, ISC, NJ
- Ned Dybvig Memorial MFA Thesis Exhibition Award
- Vermont Studio Residency Full Fellowship, VT
- 2014
- Rackham International Travel Grant, University of Michigan
- Smucker Wagstaff Grant, University of Michigan
- 2011
- Finalist for the Jamaica Super-Plus under 40 Artist of the year, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2010
- The Forward Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, Atlanta, GA
Press
- 2019
- Haunt, Journal of Art Issue 005 November, University of California, Irvine
- Get Up Stand Up, Exhibition Catalogue, The Summerset House, London, England
- The Sea is History, Exhibition Catalogue, Museum of Cultural History, Oslo, Norway
- 2018
- The Enigma of Arrival, Exhibition Catalogue, The Mason-Scharfenstein Museum
- 2017
- Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago, Exhibition Catalogue, Museum of Latin American Art
- I WAS HERE. BUT I DISAPEAR: Ivanhoe ‘Rhygin’ Martin and the Effect of Photographic Disappearance in Jamaica,” Art Journal
- Afrotropes and Other Things That Run – A conversation with Heuy Copeland and Krista Thompson, OCTOBER, JSTOR
- 2016
- Jamaican Routes, Exhibition Catalogue, Punkt ø/Galleri F 15, Norway
- 2015
- Afrikadaa Politics of Sound (December)
- Sculpture magazine (October)
- Infinite Mile a journal of art and culture(s) in Detroit Rites, Exhibition Catalogue, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
- WASH, Free Oxyn Press, Ann Arbor, MI
- 2014
- The Jamaica Biannual 2014, Exhibition Catalogue, National Gallery of Jamaica
- 2010
- The Jamaica Biannual 2010, Exhibition Catalogue, National Gallery of Jamaica
- 2008
- Pepper Pot, Exhibition Catalogue, UNC Chapel Hill
Teaching
- 2015 - Present
- Visual Art Lecturer, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
- 2016
- MFA Mentor Low-Residency School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- 2012-2015
- Teacher Assistant, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- 2010-2012
- Artist Assistant to Sculptor Basil Watson, Atlanta GA
- 2009-2012
- Art Teacher, Cook Elementary, Atlanta, GA
- 2007-2008
- Art Teacher, Vivian T. Thomas Academy (High School), Baltimore, MD
Residencies
- 2020
- Surf Point Foundation, York, ME
- 2018
- Camargo Foundation, Cassis, France
- Drawing Center Open Session, NY
- 2016
- Elsewhere Museum, NC
- 2015
- Vermont Studio Residency, VT
- 2007
- Creative Currents Residency, Panama
Lectures & Presentations
- 2018
- “The Enigma of Arrival” Piedmont College
- Visiting Artist Program Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
- “BLACK PORTRAITURE[S] IV: The Color of Silence- Color-Coded Practices: Caribbean Arts Professionals Perspective on Race” Harvard University
- 2017
- “(En)Lightning Talks Atlanta” Phi Beta Kappa Society, Woodruff Center, Atlanta
- “Guess Who is Coming to Dinner” University of Alabama, Alabama
- 2014
- “Shonibare in Context”, Henry Brown Bag Festival, Philadelphia
- “Conversation Without Walls: Considering Contemporary Artistic Practices and the Distribution of "New" Black Creativity-Dancespace Project, New York
Mixed media, 41 x 71 inches / 104.1 x 180.3 cm
Mixed media, 70 x 73 inches / 177.8 x 185.4
Mixed media, 46 x 60 Inches / 116.8 x 152.4 cm
Mixed media
Mixed media, 54 x 61 inches / 137.2 x 154.9 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Cosmo Whyte’s (b. 1982, St. Andrew, Jamaica) large scale drawings pose the celebratory body of Jamaican and diasporic communities in states of jubilation. His figures, adorned with gold leaf and black glitter, defy their colonial past, tearing it from their bodies through unbridled dance.
Whyte received a BFA from Bennington College, VT and an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, MD. His work was included in the 13th Havana Biennial, Cuba (2019), as well as the Atlanta Biennial (2016) and the Jamaica Biennial (2017). Whyte has exhibited at The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (2019); The Drawing Center, New York, NY (2019); The Somerset House, London, UK (2019); Museum of Latin American Art, Los Angeles, CA (2017); Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA (2016); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (2016); National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica (2014); and MOCA Georgia, Atlanta, GA (2011).
He recently opened a solo exhibition of his work at MOCA Georgia, Beneath Its Tongue, The Fish Rolls The Hook To Sharpen Its Cadence, curated by Allison Glenn, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. His work is in the permanent collection of the High Museum, Atlanta, GA. Whyte is the Visual Art Program Director at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA where he lives and works.
EXHIBITIONS
Home is Not a Place, June 8 – July 13, 2019
CV
Cosmo Whyte
- 1982
- Born in St. Andrews, Jamaica
- Lives in Atlanta, GA
Education
- 2015
- Master of Fine Arts, University of Michigan Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, MI
- 2007
- Post Baccalaureate, Maryland Institute College of Art, MD
- 2001
- BFA Painting, Bennington College, VT
Solo Exhibitions
- 2020
- TBD, Anat Ebgi (forthcoming), Los Angeles, CA
- 2019-2020
- Beneath Its Tongue, The Fish Rolls The Hook To sharpen Its Cadence, MOCA GA, Atlanta, GA
- 2017
- Starting A Bush Fire, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Don’t Whistle In The House, Chastain Art Center, Atlanta, GA
- 2015
- Wake the Town and Tell the People, Russell Industrial Center, Detroit, MI
- 2010
- High Tide, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Group Exhibitions
- 2019
- Art Basel Miami Beach, with Anat Ebgi Gallery, Miami, FL
- Life Through Extraordinary Mirrors, October Gallery, London, UK
- The Sea is History, Museum of Cultural History, Oslo, Norway
- 13th Havana Biennial, Matanzas, Cuba
- Get Up Stand Up, The Somerset House, London, UK
- What's Love Got to Do With It, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
- Of Origins and Belonging, Drawn from Atlanta, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
- Home is Not a Place, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA
- 2017
- Hudgens Prize Finalist Exhibition, Hudgens Center, Duluth, GA
- P.O.V., Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Building A Ship From The Shipwreck, MOCA GA, Atlanta, GA
- Selling the Shadow, C-Gallery, Milan, Italy
- Open Scene, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Relational Undercurrents, Museum of Latin American Art, Los Angeles, CA
- Jamaica Jamaica, La Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France
- 2016
- Selling the Shadow, Gallery Momo, Cape Town, South Africa
- Beautiful Tangle, Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, GA
- Atlanta Biennale, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA
- Musée On/Off, Musée L'ont Leux, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
- Wake the Town and Tell the People, Mana Contemporary, Newark NJ
- Jamaican Routes, Punkt ø/Galleri F 15, Oslo, Norway
- Masculinities, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2015
- Rites, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
- After-Afropolitan, The Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, NY
- Young Talent, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2014
- The Jamaica Biannual, National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- In Retrospect: 40 years of the National Gallery of Jamaica National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- Bottom Feeders and the Distant Self Slusser Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
- 2013
- Forward Arts Foundation Artist of the year Retrospective, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- 2012
- Outward Reach: 9 Jamaican Photography and New Media Artists, Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC
- Talent Loves Company, Barbara Archer Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- 2011
- The African Continuum, United Nations Gallery, New York, NY
- Emerging Artists of 2011, Mutual Life Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica
- Home, Chastain Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Movers and Shakers, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Atlanta, GA
- 2010
- The Jamaica Biannual, National Museum of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
- Open Season, Flanders Gallery, Raleigh, NC
- Art Fresh, Mutual Life Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2009
- Three Visions, Three Thoughts Southwest Art Center Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Small Works Show, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Summer Guest House, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- Small Redux, Agnes Scott College’s Dalton Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- 2008
- Pepper Pot, UNC Chapel Hill, Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery,Chapel Hill, NC
- 2007
- ArteFeria: Rutas y Raices, CEFATI Gallery, Portobelo, Panama
- Icosahedrons, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Awards
- 2018
- Working Artist Program Award, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia
- NBAF 2018 Fashion and Fine Art: Visual Art Award Finalist
- 2018-2020 Open Sessions Award/Fellowship, Drawing Center, NYC
- Avalon Humanities Professorship, Morehouse College, Atlanta GA
- 2017
- Hudgens Prize Finalist
- Arbes Award
- 2016
- Artadia Award
- Walthall Artist Fellowship
- Southern Constellation Fellowship, Elsewhere Museum, NC
- 2015
- The Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Grant nominee
- CUE Foundation Finalist, NY
- Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, ISC, NJ
- Ned Dybvig Memorial MFA Thesis Exhibition Award
- Vermont Studio Residency Full Fellowship, VT
- 2014
- Rackham International Travel Grant, University of Michigan
- Smucker Wagstaff Grant, University of Michigan
- 2011
- Finalist for the Jamaica Super-Plus under 40 Artist of the year, Kingston, Jamaica
- 2010
- The Forward Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, Atlanta, GA
Press
- 2019
- Haunt, Journal of Art Issue 005 November, University of California, Irvine
- Get Up Stand Up, Exhibition Catalogue, The Summerset House, London, England
- The Sea is History, Exhibition Catalogue, Museum of Cultural History, Oslo, Norway
- 2018
- The Enigma of Arrival, Exhibition Catalogue, The Mason-Scharfenstein Museum
- 2017
- Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago, Exhibition Catalogue, Museum of Latin American Art
- I WAS HERE. BUT I DISAPEAR: Ivanhoe ‘Rhygin’ Martin and the Effect of Photographic Disappearance in Jamaica,” Art Journal
- Afrotropes and Other Things That Run – A conversation with Heuy Copeland and Krista Thompson, OCTOBER, JSTOR
- 2016
- Jamaican Routes, Exhibition Catalogue, Punkt ø/Galleri F 15, Norway
- 2015
- Afrikadaa Politics of Sound (December)
- Sculpture magazine (October)
- Infinite Mile a journal of art and culture(s) in Detroit Rites, Exhibition Catalogue, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
- WASH, Free Oxyn Press, Ann Arbor, MI
- 2014
- The Jamaica Biannual 2014, Exhibition Catalogue, National Gallery of Jamaica
- 2010
- The Jamaica Biannual 2010, Exhibition Catalogue, National Gallery of Jamaica
- 2008
- Pepper Pot, Exhibition Catalogue, UNC Chapel Hill
Teaching
- 2015 - Present
- Visual Art Lecturer, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
- 2016
- MFA Mentor Low-Residency School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- 2012-2015
- Teacher Assistant, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- 2010-2012
- Artist Assistant to Sculptor Basil Watson, Atlanta GA
- 2009-2012
- Art Teacher, Cook Elementary, Atlanta, GA
- 2007-2008
- Art Teacher, Vivian T. Thomas Academy (High School), Baltimore, MD
Residencies
- 2020
- Surf Point Foundation, York, ME
- 2018
- Camargo Foundation, Cassis, France
- Drawing Center Open Session, NY
- 2016
- Elsewhere Museum, NC
- 2015
- Vermont Studio Residency, VT
- 2007
- Creative Currents Residency, Panama
Lectures & Presentations
- 2018
- “The Enigma of Arrival” Piedmont College
- Visiting Artist Program Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
- “BLACK PORTRAITURE[S] IV: The Color of Silence- Color-Coded Practices: Caribbean Arts Professionals Perspective on Race” Harvard University
- 2017
- “(En)Lightning Talks Atlanta” Phi Beta Kappa Society, Woodruff Center, Atlanta
- “Guess Who is Coming to Dinner” University of Alabama, Alabama
- 2014
- “Shonibare in Context”, Henry Brown Bag Festival, Philadelphia
- “Conversation Without Walls: Considering Contemporary Artistic Practices and the Distribution of "New" Black Creativity-Dancespace Project, New York