Exhibitions

WILLIE COLE: OLD SCHOOL

Hatch Show Print’s Haley Gallery / 222 Rep. John Lewis Way S. January 15, 2026 - January 31, 2026 (Reception: January 15 5:00pm - 8:00pm)

Willie Cole

Willie Cole: Old School, new and recent works by the critically acclaimed American sculptor and printmaker, opens Thursday, January 15, with a reception, free and open to the public. Cole’s second exhibition at Haley Gallery, Old School explores the meaning of words like "Love," "Hate," and "Dixie," and the acronyms created by their letters, through a series of seven new "chalkboard" paintings. The exhibition will include Cole’s largest chalkboard painting, which is inspired by the word “Patriot.”

In addition to this new group of paintings, the gallery will present a series of rarely seen artist studies, created over more than three decades, in which Cole develops acronyms for the larger works, as well as additional paintings and prints never exhibited in Tennessee. This exhibition is curated by Paul Barrett, who is also curating the upcoming career survey, Willie Cole: My Brand is History at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (Montgomery, AL) in 2027.