Cultural appropriation from historical avant-garde of the Dada and Surrealist movement is one of the foundations of Willie Cole’s artistic practice. He uses household and everyday objects that he then decontextualizes and transforms to create drawings, photographs, sculptures and installations. He is well known for his mixed media sculptures, including those made out of vintage shoes that explore West African masquerade practices and the context of the African American Diaspora. Cole studied at The School of Visual Arts, New York and The Art Students League of New York. He has had solo exhibitions across the USA , including Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, Cambridge (2019); The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (2016); Montclair Art Museum, Montclair (2006); Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (1998), amongst numerous others.