Explorations of Self:
Black Portraiture from
the Cochran Collection

September 21, 2020 - March 28, 2021
(MAIN GALLERY) 

Although a year in the making, this exhibition arrives at an appropriate moment; it spotlights almost a century of brilliant but long-overlooked work of Black artists, collected with steadfast commitment by Wes and Missy Cochran, and attests to the flexibility and fortitude of Wake Forest students to make the exhibition happen.

Under the guidance of art professor John Curley, undergraduates in his art history seminar class researched the Cochran’s collection, its artists and the larger history and condition of artists of color and their work, to create the exhibition. The student-driven approach aligned with the Cochran’s collecting mission. For many years, Wes (a retired stonemason) and Missy (a retired teacher) have shown the work in their own LaGrange, Georgia, gallery and traveled thematic groups of their holdings, often to venues in smaller communities with student populations. Exposure to students and scholars, in addition to a more general public, is central to their concept of the collection.

Explorations of Self presents the work of Emma Amos, Lorna Simpson, Willie Cole, Jack Whitten, Adrian Piper, Alma Thomas, Beverly Buchanan, Juan Logan, Howardena Pindell, Jim Alexander, Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Camille Billops, Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence, among others, of whom nearly half are women.

Due to pandemic-related restrictions, access to Hanes Gallery is limited to Wake Forest University students, faculty and staff until further notice. The University and the gallery will be offering online content about the exhibition. 
 

Organization: The exhibition was curated by 16 WFU students with the guidance of art history professor Dr. John Curley in the spring of 2020.