Having exhibited his artwork nationally and internationally, Andrew Cozzens seemed to be the perfect choice when leaders at Kentucky College of Art + Design (KyCAD) were searching for a gallery director for the 849 Gallery.
A longtime devotee of the Louisville art scene, Cozzens is a visual artist who researches time subjectivity and its effect on human experience and aging through his artwork. He has exhibited his work at Georgian College in Ontario, Canada; the Arènes du Lutèce in Paris, France; SCOPE at Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida; a solo exhibition during the Taipei biennial in Taipei, Taiwan; Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis, Missouri; and the Siena Art Institute in Siena, Italy.
The 849 Gallery was developed as the campus exhibition space for KyCAD when the school was just beginning, accord to Cozzens. “It was KSA [Kentucky School of Art] at that point,” he says, adding that the 849 Gallery at KyCAD is a 1,400-square-foot exhibition project space that “exists within the 849 studio building at KyCAD. Under one roof, the gallery operates in proximity to multiple classrooms, student studios, workshops, and lecture spaces.”
He says that while “we exhibit student work through the annual Senior Thesis Exhibition and projects that align with specific courses, most of our exhibitions are a mixture of local, regional, national and international artists and curators.” The gallery is open to the public for exhibition openings, events, lectures, and local tours by appointment.
“For now, we do not take a commission as we are an educational institution,” says Cozzens. “If someone is interested in purchasing the artwork, we connect them directly with the artists to complete the sale.”
The gallery holds four exhibitions per year, including two in the fall and two in the spring. “The only recurring show is the KyCAD Senior Thesis Exhibition in the spring,” Cozzens says. The opening reception for the 2025 Senior Thesis Exhibition will be held on May 16, 2025.
The gallery’s current exhibition is a curated exhibition by New York artist Vincent Tiley titled “Disguise, Mischief, and Freedom”, which opened in early November 2024 and will run through January 31, 2025. The focus is on wearable art and performance costumes.
Cozzens says this exhibition is in celebration of the inaugural semester of KyCAD’s new Experimental Fashion and Performance pathway, which aims for innovation in the study of body adornment, garments and the cultural phenomenon of fashion.
“Disguise, Mischief, and Freedom” explores garments and the narratives they proclaim about ourselves. This multidisciplinary show celebrates costume and artifice as strategies for joy, critique and resistance in a society obsessed with authenticity.”
From February 20 to March 31, 2025, the gallery will host an exhibition that examines the intersection of the natural and technological, exploring how digital processes and machines may emerge as extensions of organic forms and creative impulses, Cozzens says. This exhibition is in celebration of the inaugural semester of KyCAD’s new Digital Fabrication pathway and is curated by Shohei Katayama.
KyCAD President Moira Scott Payne says that students at KyCAD study for a four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art. Within that degree, she says “students experiment with many disciplines and are encouraged to work in areas of choice and interest. These choices could include a broad interdisciplinary approach or a single focus such as garment design and fashion.”
Cozzens says KyCAD is currently seeking accreditation. Payne says the college has been granted candidacy status by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
In 2014 Cozzens became manager of the 849 Gallery as well as an adjunct professor at KyCAD (still known as KSA at the time). “Andrew brings an expert eye and an active knowledge of contemporary art conversations to the 849 space,” Payne says. “No one hangs a show better.”
Payne says that even with a busy schedule as an engaged and talented contemporary artist, Cozzens finds time to be a full-time associate professor at KyCAD. “As an artist and educator, his research informs his teaching and his own practice inspires and informs our students,” Payne says.
“As an interdisciplinary program, we try our best to exhibit professional artists working with a wide variety of materials and subject matter,” Cozzens says. “Additionally, we often utilize the gallery as an experimental project space for students to use as an extension of the classroom.”
The 849 Gallery has always been part of KyCAD, says Payne. “A gallery is a great way to connect with the community while also being a teaching space for students,” she says. “The exhibition and presentation are an important part of what an art student learns.”
KyCAD was created to bring a new college to Kentucky solely focused on the arts and art practice, says Payne. “KyCAD brings a curriculum that seeks to be valuable to its community, while producing students who have a breadth of skills ready for the fast-changing workplace of tomorrow,” she says. “An arts education teaches the critical and cross-disciplinary skills that produce an adaptable creative practitioner.”
She feels the college has found a goldmine in Cozzens. “Andrew’s involvement with the pedagogies of a new college of art and design have resulted in a number of recently published papers, and this scholarship ensures that the college is recognized as promoting new practices in art and design education,” Payne says.
She adds that his artwork “draws on scientific research, material knowledge, and a real sensitivity and understanding of the languages of visual culture.”
Cozzens was in high school when he realized that he could attend college and pursue art seriously as a professional career. A Louisville native, Cozzens says he was reared in a blue-collar family, which is where his work ethic comes from. He says minimal art exposure while growing up helped him to create “more authentic work,” and forced him to think in terms of “a real-world perspective.”
Cozzens received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 2010 after earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Murray State University in 2008. He returned to Louisville, and before taking over as gallery manager for the 849 Gallery, he volunteered with Louisville Visual Art (of which he is a current board member) and became involved with other local organizations. He was the gallery manager for the Speed Art Museum for a time, in addition to exhibiting his own works and traveling.
Cozzens is currently an associate professor of studio art at KyCAD as well. “I use many different materials and processes in my studio practice, but I usually work in three dimensions,” he says.
His work often provides a unique experience for the viewer. “With an array of materials, I utilize both natural and synthetic processes to give my work a lifespan beyond the instantaneous viewing,” he says. “By virtue of one’s own sensual impulses, I encourage the viewer to experience the present, develop a past, consider the future and realize their place within the continuum of the work.”
His focus in his artwork is based on temporality, which causes Cozzens to use processes that are durational. “My work usually has a lifespan,” he says.
Cozzens says he has been influenced by Ceal Floyer, Francis Alÿs, Roman Signer, Ann Hamilton, Anish Kapoor, Giuseppe Penone and many others. He brings years of experience, as an artist himself and an admirer of others, to the classroom.
“Andrew’s own sculpture or installed works investigate constructs of time, and he works across a range of digital and sculptural materials that might include clay, pigment, metal and wood,” Payne says. “His interdisciplinary interests and skills reflect our own curriculum and this breadth of knowledge is a wonderful resource to our students. In addition to his wonderful skills and knowledge, Andrew is a beloved member of our community. Known for his warm generosity, we are lucky to have this man as one of the key founders of the college.”
To find out more about the 849 Gallery or KyCAD, visit kycad.org.
