The Sea Urchin Can't Swim: Tales from the Edge of a World: Cosmo Whyte

Opening Reception: October 4, 6 - 9 pm

Johnson Lowe Gallery is pleased to present our inaugural solo exhibition of Cosmo Whyte. Opening on October 4th, with a reception from 6-9 pm, and coinciding with the Atlanta Art Fair and Atlanta Art Week, Cosmo Whyte's The Sea Urchin Can't Swim: Tales from the Edge of a World, marks his first presentations with the gallery.

In The Sea Urchin Can't Swim: Tales from the Edge of a World, Los Angeles based artist Cosmo Whyte continues his explorations of race, nationalism, and displacement in what ostensibly culminates in a presentation of land and seascapes. Drawing from his archives of personal migration, Caribbean folklore, and historical photographs related to water practices spanning from the 1930’s to the present, Whyte interrogates the controversial maritime practice of flags of convenience (FOC). The works on view scrutinize access, privilege, sovereignty, and decolonial nationhood, juxtaposing these historical maritime traditions with contemporary geopolitical dynamics. Through a diverse array of media, encompassing drawings, photography, sculpture, and installation, Whyte articulates the dialectical tensions between the foreign and the domestic, mirroring the liminal spaces of migration and the perpetual evolution of identity formation.