Michael Coppage
Michael Coppage is a conceptual artist using an interdisciplinary, dialectical approach to address social issues surrounding race and language. Originally from Chicago, He has lived and worked in Cincinnati since 2007. Coppage is the three-time recipient of Artswave’s Truth and Reconciliation grant, Ohio Pretrial Justice grant, and received Awesome Foundation grants in New York and Philadelphia. He is the recipient of the Ohio Arts Councils Individual Artistic Excellence award, Artist Opportunities Grant and The Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Foundation Enlightenment Award. He completed a TEDx Talk titled “Everybody’s Racist….and it’s O.K” and he gained international attention with his recent project “BLACK BOX” : a community impact project aimed at demystifying blackness and creating authentic experiences that replaces bias and preconceived notions related to “Black”. This series has impacted over 2 million people in 29 countries and has been exhibited in Puerto Rico, American University in Paris, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 21c Museum Museum, Medici Museum, Ohio Arts Councils Riffe Gallery and at ArtCrawl Harlem on Governors Island in New York. Coppage has completed several public works in the United States and has works in both public and private collections nationally gaining attention recently with a body of work entitled “American+”.
I create paint, sculptural and lens-based projects that explore negative archetypes and stark racial disparities still operating in the language and psychology of contemporary American culture. I audit contemporary language to create counter narratives, new definitions and safe spaces for conversations that lead to increased empathy, understanding, insight, public engagement and community impact. I always work in a long-term context. My intention is for the work to live beyond the moment as a point of reference for those in the future looking for ways to combat injustice, but in a more idealized world where equity is more a reality than a daydream the work can serve as critical documentation of the experiences of marginalized people. I often cite Black experiences but my inquiry into various forms of oppression can be resources for any kind of person living in the margins of society. My work in totality is a composite reflection of human experiences with universal themes, wide reach, and the insightful responses. My images are generalized to provoke the viewer to project their own thoughts, feelings and bias onto the work creating the impetus for discussion.
“Only through discussion can we find a middle ground that may lead to an amicable solution.”
-Michael Coppage