Cora Cohen (born October 19, 1943) is an American artist whose works include paintings, drawings, photographs, and altered

x rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nbs ...

. Cohen is most known for her abstract paintings and is often identified as continuing the tradition of American Abstraction. '' The New York Times'' critic Michael Brenson wrote of her 1984 exhibition, ''Portraits of Women'': "The works are dense, brooding and yet elated. The turbulence of the paint not only looks but also feels like freedom." Cohen interviewed many other artists also associated with continuing the tradition of American Abstraction for Bomb Magazine including;

Ralph Humphrey Ralph Humphrey (April 14, 1932 – July 14, 1990) was an American abstract painter whose work has been linked to both Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism. He was active in the New York art scene in the 1960s and '70s. His paintings are bes ...

Dona Nelson Dona Nelson (born 1947) is an American painter, best known for immersive, gestural, primarily abstract works employing unorthodox materials, processes and formats to disrupt conventional notions of painting and viewership.Kertess, Klaus. "Full Ne ...

Craig Fisher Craig Fisher (born June 30, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who currently works in the athletic administration for Ontario Tech University (UOIT), having previously served as the head coach of the UOIT hockey team. Fis ...

, Carl Ostendarp and Joan Mitchell. Her work has also been identified with traditions of European abstraction, and specifically German abstraction, including the work of

Wols Wols was the pseudonym of Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze (27 May 19131 September 1951), a German painter and photographer predominantly active in France. Though broadly unrecognized in his lifetime, he is considered a pioneer of lyrical abstracti ...

, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter. She began exhibiting in Germany in the early nineties and continues to show at some of its most prestigious institutions.

Early life and education

Cora Cohen was born in New York City. She attended the High School of Music & Art (1957–60) and Bennington College (1960-64), where she studied with

Paul Feeley Paul Feeley (July 27, 1910 − June 10, 1966) was an artist and director of the Art Department at Bennington College during the 1950s and early 1960s. Overview Though Feeley was born in the same generation as the Abstract Expressionists, his ...

, and Lawrence Alloway.The U.S. Department of State, Office of Art in Embassies
Artist Profile Page
Cohen was Artist in Residence in Painting at the University of Pennsylvania (1969–70), after which she returned to Bennington College as a graduate student (1970–72). During this time, she studied with

Richard Haas Richard John Haas (born August 29, 1936) is an American muralist who is best known for architectural murals and his use of the ''trompe-l'œil'' style. Haas has a 1959 B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and a 1964 M.F.A. from the U ...

, and met sound artist

Liz Phillips Liz Phillips (born 1951) is an American artist specializing in sound art and interactive art. A pioneer in the development of interactive sound sculpture, Phillips' installations explore the possibilities of electronic sound in relation to livin ...

who introduced her to new music, in particular that of

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

and

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

. In this work Cohen found reinforcement for using traditional art materials to create decompositional abstractions.

Career

Cohen's first solo museum exhibition was initiated by

James Harithas Menelaus James Harithas (December 1, 1932 – March 23, 2023) was an American museum curator, director, and founder. Early life and education Menelaus James "Jim" Harithas was born in Lewiston, Maine, the eldest of three children. His father ...

at the

Everson Museum of Art Everson may refer to: People with the surname * Ben Everson (born 1987), English footballer * Bill Everson (1906–1966), Welsh international rugby union player * Cliff Everson, a New Zealand car designer and manufacturer * Corinna Everson (born ...

in 1974. She began exhibiting regularly in New York at the Max Hutchinson Gallery in 1976. Cohen exhibited widely from the late eighties onward, in New York at the

Holly Solomon Holly Solomon (1934–2002) was an American collector of contemporary art and founder of the Holly Solomon Gallery in New York City in 1975. Her SoHo, Manhattan gallery was initially known for nurturing the artistic movement known as Pattern and D ...

Gallery, and Wolff Gallery. In the early nineties she began exhibiting in Europe. In 2008, her exhibition ''Come in a Little Closer'' at Michael Steinberg Fine Art received wide attention. It was written about in ''The New York Times'', artcritical.com, and reviewed in depth in The Brooklyn Rail by Joan Waltemath who wrote, "her brushstrokes...hover between the task of delineating form and the state of becoming form. They mimic the fluctuation between being and reflecting on being and so embody the Cartesian dualism that determines our consciousness." The first exhibition of Cohen's altered x rays, her works on exposed x ray films in which cuts and other interventions subvert or enhance the image, was held at The Field Institute Hombroich,

Museum Insel Hombroich The Museum Insel Hombroich (Museum Island Hombroich), Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is both a park and a museum combining architecture, art and nature on over 62 acres of meadowland. The park includes the "Kirkeby-Feld" and the "Raketenst ...

, Neuss in 2011. In 2013, ''The Responsibility of Forms'', an exhibition of Cohen's 2012-13 paintings that examine a place between uncertainty and sureness was held at Guided by Invoices, New York. It was written about extensively, in artcritical.com, The Huffington Post and The Brooklyn Rail. In 2013, a selection of drawings from 2007 to 2013 was exhibited at Galerie Hafemann, Wiesbaden. In recent years, Cohen's work has been exhibited in many group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad, including, ''70 Years of Abstract Painting - Excerpts'', 2011, curated by

Stephanie Buhmann Stephanie Buhmann (born 1977) is a German art critic, art historian, and curator. Born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, she lives in New York City and Lübeck, Germany. Her book series "Studio Conversations" focuses on contemporary female artists ...

at the Jason McCoy Gallery, New York; ''Auf Papier'', 2011, at Galerie Hafemann, Wiesbaden; ''Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts 2012'', at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; ''Assembly 2012'', at Edward Thorp Gallery, New York; ''Paper Band'', 2012, curated by Stephanie Simmons at Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, with

Frederick Kiesler Frederick John Kiesler (September 22, 1890 – December 27, 1965) was an Austrian- American architect, theoretician, theater designer, artist and sculptor. Biography Kiesler was born Friedrich Jacob Kiesler in Czernowitz, Austro-Hungarian Empi ...

, Lee Krasner, Jim Lee, etc., and ''Season Review 2013'', at Edward Thorp Gallery, New York with Andrew Guenther, June Leaf, Henri Michaux. R88

Cohen has been the recipient of awards from the

Yaddo Foundation Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

(1982), the National Endowment for the Arts (1987), the

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 ...

(1989), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (1998), the

Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation was established in 1976. It is an American nonprofit organization that provides funding for the arts. History The Gottlieb Foundation was established after Adolph Gottlieb’s death in 1974. Esther Gottlieb ...

(1990, 2006), the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Space Program (2008), and the Edward F. Albee Foundation Residency (2009). Her painting, Curtain, 2008, 75 x 103” (190.5 x 261.62 cm) received a purchase award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2012), and she is the recipient of a

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative abi ...

(2013). Cohen is a frequent guest teacher and lecturer at various institutions including The School of the Art Institute of Chicago,

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts, (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, Visual Arts, ...

, Maryland Institute College of Art, and Medicine Hat College, Alberta. She lives and works in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

and continues to spend time in Germany.

Collections

Cohen’s works are in many public collections, including The Swedish State Art Council (Stockholm), The Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection (Berlin), the Weatherspoon Art Museum (Greensboro), Yale University (New Haven), The William and Uytendale Scott Memorial Study Collection of Works by Women of The Bryn Mawr College Art and Archaeology Collection (Bryn Mawr), the

Neuberger Museum of Art Neuberger Museum of Art is located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is affiliated with Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system. It is the nation's tenth-largest university museum. The museum is one of 14 sites on ...

and Purchase College, (Purchase, New York).Bryn Mawr College
William and Uytendale Scott Memorial Study Collection of Works by Women Artists
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References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Cora 1943 births Living people 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Abstract painters American women painters Bennington College alumni Painters from New York (state) The High School of Music & Art alumni

Early life and education

Career

Collections

References

Further reading

External links