You Can Still Visit 'If UR Reading This It's 2 Late, Vol. 3' by Tony Cokes

‘If UR Reading This It's 2 Late, Vol. 3’ is the first major solo expo by acclaimed American artist and Brown University professor Tony Cokes in Belgium, uniting visuals, words and audio captured in stirring video art asking tough questions about ‘truth, social justice, and capitalism’. The irony that now surrounds the exhibition title is not lost on us. If you are reading this, it is in fact too late to visit professor Cokes’ expo at ARGOS art centre in Brussels because due to ongoing COVID-19 measures, the museum has temporarily closed until November 19 (at the earliest). However, since part of the exhibition actually takes place outside and in public there is still part of it you can visit!

The exhibition in its entirety hones in on Tony Cokes’ works on pop and electronic music. You most likely recognize the nod to the eponymous Drake mixtape in the expo’s title, which is a reference to the way the artist mixes quotes from names ranging from Aretha Franklin and Malcolm X to Morrissey into powerful mixed media art installation and projections. The expo was partly hosted within the walls of ARGOS, and included video projections and new artworks, and as of now there are still two parts of the expo you can visit while in the city: a window display at ARGOS in Koopliedenstraat 62 as well as a Black Lives Matter-centred installation in the publically accessible Horta Hall. The expo also includes a monograph for which 50% of the proceeds will be donated to ‘Belgian Network for Black Lives’. Here’s hoping the full meal will be available to savour once again soon, but if you are passing by, you can still catch part of this important art project in the city of Brussels. Above all, please follow your local safety guidelines at all times and let’s hang in there, together.