John Cox

John Cox studied Art at the College of the Bahamas and Art Education at the Rhode Island School of Design. Since his return to the Bahamas Cox has become a leading figure in defining the role, place and course of contemporary visual arts in Bahamian culture. Cox has been a curator at the Bahamian National Art Gallery and a lecturer at the College of the Bahamas. He is also a director of Popop Studios – Center for Visual Arts in Nassau that supports experimentation and innovation in contemporary art – a creative hub for himself, the local and international artists.In the diptych I Am Not Afraid to Fight a Perfect Stranger, the overlaid silkscreened head of Buddha, the ornament with fleur-de-lis, and the red stars – symbols of world’s cultures that influenced the the Bahamas – serve as a background to an imprint of a pair of men. The men are a mirror reflection of one another and are John Cox’s self-portrait. They seem to be boxing except the artist did not depict fists or boxing gloves. Instead, there are drawings of two plumb bobs on each part of the diptych – possibly a reference to Cox’s study of architecture in Rhode Island and a metaphor for trying to find oneself. A man coming from the background of a fusion of cultures is presented with a challenge of facing who he is… Cox commented that the “I against I” series, to which this painting belongs, began as an exploration of male identity in the modern society and in the process evolved in a reflection on the issues of coming of age and overcoming hardships. –E.G.