Tony Cokes in conversation with Cole Moore
Tony Cokes in Conversation with Cole Moore brings an incisive dialogue between the American artist and the art writer. Over the course of the exchange, Cokes articulates how his use of coded text, vivid color blocks, found media, and music becomes a form of critical intervention in public culture.
Cokes and Moore reflect on the underlying logic of 4 Voices / 4 Weeks—a video series broadcast on Piccadilly Lights—where texts from figures like John Lewis, Elijah McClain, and Judith Butler are translated into abbreviated codes that disrupt easy legibility. This visual structure reframes cultural memory—from anger to mourning, from decontextualized statements to embodied collective responsibility.
Rather than prescribing answers, their conversation unfolds as an invitation into interpretive practice. Cokes emphasizes the power of artistic fragmentation to open space for viewers to ask questions—not just to consume messages, but to inhabit them. Moore probes how art-as-archive can challenge dominant narratives during moments of crisis and recalibrate public understanding.