Description
Lauren Cohen
Meat Gun (Glock 17 Gen 4 Pistol), 2023
Ceramic and Acrylic,
7.5″ x 7″ x 2″
ARTIST STATEMENT
Lauren Cohen constructs an artistic universe where control, power, sexuality and violence are recurring themes. The forming of “the other” within any given society is at the core of her research. Having grown up (and out) of Puritan New England, she connects historical events and characters to her own growth and development in order to form fictional mythologies. By superimposing symbols, memories, reinventions and artifacts of other eras and peoples onto contemporary ones and vice versa, she often stages figures and objects like props on a set. Cohen and her creations go through a process of existential inquiry, often illustrating the horrors of humanity. However, hope exists in her work as something closer to the word’s origins: a curve (or bend). As the artist shifts and changes, so does her work.
BIO
Lauren Cohen holds a BFA from California College of the Arts, San Francisco, and an MA from Royal College of Art, London. Her work has been exhibited at Felix Art Fair presented by Voloshyn Gallery, Los Angeles; Westbeth Gallery, NY; Wassaic Project, NY; Spring/Break Art Show, NY; The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film, NY; Van Der Plas Gallery, NY; Trestle Gallery, NY; Andrew Edlin Gallery, NY; The Maine Jewish Museum, Portland; Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco; The di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA; The London Institute of Contemporary Art; The Blyth Gallery, London; Goldsmiths College of London; and Brigitte Mulholland, Paris (forthcoming). She has been an Artist in Residence at MacDowell, NARS (New York Art Residency and Studios), The Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and MASS MoCA. Previous juried exhibitions include Bloomberg New Contemporaries, The Catlin Guide, and Saatchi New Sensations.
