If you haven’t yet viewed Anxious Objects: Willie Cole’s Favorite Brands, showing through September 3, tonight’s party is the perfect opportunity. “Soul to Sole: Art and Stories of Music, Food, and Anxious Objects” celebrates the exhibit with African music from KEXP DJ Jon Kertzer, a discussion on the links between food and community with Marjorie owner Donna Moodie, and a conversation between New Jersey-based artist Cole and Pamela McClusky, SAM’s curator of African and Oceanic art. Their talk should be as fascinating as Cole’s artworks on display. Mimicking African art such as headdresses and masks through “time-textured” objects like high-heeled shoes and bike parts, Cole’s references are recognizable, but filtered through his personal experience and family history. One sculpture shows two lawn jockeys facing off—one adorned with cowrie-shell eyes and holding a wooden cross, the other with mirrored eyes and a knife in hand. You learn from the placard that they represent the domestic tools and characteristics associated with slavery—with the roles of “field” (Cole’s father’s family) and “house” (Cole’s mother’s family) Negroes. Another piece, Stowage—one of many using the distinct patterns of steam irons burned into paper—recreates an image of the slave ship Brooks, with twelve patterns indicating the twelve tribes on board. Learning from Cole himself about these ingenious tributes will be something not to miss.