Don Cole's Amalia, 1973 — Donald Cole, Amalia, 1973, Acrylic on canvas, 63 x 103 in.

Donald Cole: Precision and Freedom

Celebrating Six Decades of Art

April 3 - May 22, 2021

ArtXchange Gallery is honored to present, Precision and Freedom, a survey exhibition spanning the six decade career of painter Donald Cole. Beginning with his early career in the creative hotbed of 1970s New York City, through working and traveling abroad in the 90s, to his current life in the woods on Vashon Island, Washington, this exhibition showcases Cole’s unique ability to encompass both precision and exuberant experimentation with balanced tension.

Donald Cole in his studio — Donald Cole in studio

While the in-gallery exhibition highlights a selection of Cole’s paintings throughout his career, from matchbox-sized to monumental, the expanded online exhibition presents 60 paintings from six decades and an in-depth look at the artist’s life.

Donald Cole, Scaffold, 1965, Oli on canvas, 65 x 77 in.

Born in 1930 in New York City, Cole’s work has deep roots in the Abstract Expressionist movement that surrounded him as a youth. As his art career gained momentum in the 1970s amidst the Pop Art and Minimalist movements, Cole explored independent directions in abstraction. Rejecting artwork that responded only to formal concerns or trends, Cole expressed political and cultural content through color, brushstroke, and texture.

Donald Cole, Some River, 1974, Acrylic on canvas, 63 x 232 in.

Exploring the decades of Cole’s work takes the viewer on a journey through the artist’s life against the backdrop of multiple wars, decades of global travel, the continual cycles of political polarization; constant in Cole’s work over the years is enduring respect for the natural world and ancient history.

Donald Cole, Sampad (A Falling Together), 2007, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 50 in.

Donald Cole is the recipient of multiple awards and grants, including two from the National Endowment for the Arts, and his work has been exhibited abroad through the Art in Embassies program of the U.S. State Department. Throughout his career, he taught painting and design at schools including Auburn University, Parsons School of Design, and Kanazawa International Design Institute, Japan. He has shown at galleries and museums around the world and his work is in numerous private and public collections including the Portland Art Museum and the Worcester Art Museum.