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.
Text courtesy Anat Ebgi.

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