Erika Ranee Cosby (born April 8, 1965) is an American painter. She is the daughter of philanthropist

Camille Cosby Camille Olivia Cosby ( Hanks; born March 20, 1944) is an American television producer, philanthropist, and the wife of comedian Bill Cosby. The character of Clair Huxtable from ''The Cosby Show'' was based on her. Cosby has avoided public life, b ...

and comedian

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

Early life and education

Erika Ranee Cosby was born on April 8, 1965 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, the oldest of five children born to Camille Olivia ( née Hanks) and William Henry Cosby, Jr. All five of the siblings' names began with E, for "excellence." Erika has two living siblings: sisters Erinn (born 1966) and Evin (born 1976). Her brother, Ennis Cosby (born in 1969), was murdered in 1997. A younger sister, Ensa Cosby (born in 1973), died of kidney disease in 2018. Following high school, Cosby attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987. After Wesleyan, she attended the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1989. She then attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and graduated in 1991 with a Masters of Fine Arts. Following the completion of her MFA, Cosby attended the

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 ...

in Maine for a nine-week summer residency course.

Artistic career

David Driskell David C. Driskell (June 7, 1931 – April 1, 2020) was an American artist, scholar and curator; recognized for his work in establishing African-American Art as a distinct field of study. In his lifetime, Driskell was cited as one of the world� ...

wrote that Cosby's artwork "concentrates on image perception, especially the media's debasing stereotypes that alter the realistic qualities of people through negative representation... Through the use of satire, metaphor, and allegory, her work examines the intent and the effect of these distorted images on African American culture." She focuses on abstract pieces. Cosby was the recipient of a

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

Fellowship in Painting. From 2009 to 2010, she was an artist in residence at the

Abrons Arts Center The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...

, and was awarded a studio grant from The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation in 2011. In 2012, she was included in

Jayson Musson Jayson Scott Musson is an artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He was born in Bronx, NY. Early life In an interview in Nat. Brut magazine, Musson said that he grew up in Spring Valley, New York, about 25 minutes from New York City. He ...

and

Marilyn Minter Marilyn Minter (born 1948) is an American visual artist who is perhaps best known for her sensual paintings and photographs done in the photorealism style that blur the line between commercial and fine art. Minter currently teaches in the MFA de ...

's group show at the New York's Family Business called "It's a Small, Small World." During 2012 and 2013, Cosby worked as an adjunct art professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

along with

Huma Bhabha Huma Bhabha (born 1962) is a Pakistani-American sculptor based in Poughkeepsie, New York. Known for her uniquely grotesque, figurative forms that often appear dissected or dismembered, Bhabha often uses found materials in her sculptures, includi ...

, Dike Blair,

Wayne Koestenbaum Wayne Koestenbaum (born 1958) is an American artist, poet, and cultural critic. He received a B.A. from Harvard University, an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University and is a 1994 Whiting Award recipie ...

and others. One of her pieces, called ''Hanging Out To Dry'', was shown at the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian's

National Museum of African Art The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution's African art museum, located on the National Mall of the United States capital. Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-S ...

in 2014. The painting was a large, bright, impressionist work. Cosby explained the painting with, "The positioning of the dolls hanging from a clothesline, in an upside-down trajectory as they are suspended in perpetuity, suggests an uncertain future status. The expressionistic paint rendering and predominant use of red are a visceral interpretation of the persistent and relentless distortion of black imagery in our culture." The gala was attended by her parents,

Latanya Richardson Jackson LaTanya Richardson Jackson ( Richardson; born October 21, 1949) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in off-Broadway productions, before playing supporting roles on television and film. Richardson has appeared in films includi ...

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, and James Staton, among others. In July 2015, Cosby was the curator of a pop-up group art show in artist Jennifer Coates' Brooklyn studio called "Eye Contact." It featured art by Cosby along with art from

Rina Banerjee Rina Banerjee (born 1963) is an Indian Americans, Indian-American artist and sculptor."Bio"
Rinabanerjee.com, Retrieved onl ...

Ellen Gallagher Ellen Gallagher (born December 16, 1965) is an American artist. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is held in the permanent collections of many major museums. Her media include painting, works on paper, film and ...

Nina Chanel Abney Nina Chanel Abney is an American artist, based in New York. She was born in Harvey, Illinois. She is an African American contemporary artist and painter who explores race, gender, pop culture, homophobia, and politics in her work. Personal lif ...

, Ella Kruglyanskaya, David Armacost, Lauren Gidwitz, Scott Grodesky, and Ryan Schneider. Cosby stated, "I started thinking about eye imagery after watching marchers carrying artist JR's banner of

Eric Garner On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the incide ...

’s cropped eyes." Works by Cosby have been featured in galleries such as SALTWORKS Contemporary Art, the Arlington Arts Center, Slate Gallery, Artspace in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

, the Allegra LaViola Gallery, and The Last Brucennial. Cosby is a benefactor of the summer institute for A Long Walk Home, an art-based sexual assault awareness program in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosby, Erika 20th-century American painters African-American women artists 1965 births Living people Bill Cosby American women painters Artists from Los Angeles University of California, Berkeley alumni School of Visual Arts alumni Wesleyan University alumni New York University faculty 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni African-American painters 21st-century American painters