Mini Post: Renee Cox

The Liberation of UB and Lady J

Taxi

Born in Colgate, Jamaica and later relocating to Scarsdale, New York, Renee Cox began her journey as a artist at Syracuse University majoring in photography. She later went on to pursue her master’s in visual arts. With all the credentials under her belt and a determination to make a statement about society with every piece of work she produced, she set forth addressing these social issues with religious imagery and references. As the years progressed, her artist technique and ideas also began to progress and advance. For her first show at a New York gallery in 1998, she was completely independent, putting her talents and skill to the test. This is the very first instance where Cox used herself as the subject for her artwork, creating an alter ego for herself, Raje, an African American superhero. She continued to alternate between Raje and the messages she portrayed through religious images, each piece of work being more powerful than the one before.

A well-known African-American female artist, Renee Cox uses her unique eye and skill in photography to illuminate specific issues present within society, mainly in regards to black women and the ongoing relationship they share with the beliefs of racism and sexism. She uses herself as the subject and sometimes the focal point of her pictures to get her message across, which is very far from conservative. She’s the opposite of conservative, an ideal that majority of individuals believe women should practice and be. Whether it’s with her as a person or the work she creates, Cox is always serving up “raunchy realness”, presenting social issues in a way that makes people uncomfortable, but still discussion worthy. With the tantalizing series of photos that Cox creates, she pushes the limits and uses her nude body to empower black women and normalize this idea of sexuality within black womanhood, a topic that’s also rarely discussed. In doing that, Cox also follows through the rest of her agenda, aiming to target the stereotypes that linger in the African American community, take them back , and switch up the meaning of all of them. http://www.reneecox.org