Biography

Using the decorative as a defense mechanism, Rachel Gisela Cohen’s work reflects on beauty, surface, and the excess of contemporary culture, moving between the natural and material world. Cohen’s practice engages in a deep material investigation, focusing on the tension and competition between paint and fabric. The color and patterning of Cohen’s sequined encrusted chromatic paintings stem from both an observation and reflection on aposematic organisms and materials found deep inside Costa Rican rainforest ecosystems and New York City’s garment district. Rachel Gisela Cohen (b. 1990, New Jersey) is an artist and independent curator living and working in Brooklyn, NY. She received her M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from Pratt Institute and a B.A. in Art History and Visual Art from Drew University. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, COPE NYC, and the Montclair Art Museum. She has exhibited works both nationally and internationally, exhibiting at NYC's Spring Break Art Fair 2020, Pierogi Gallery’s The Boiler, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Hunter College Art Galleries, and the Armenia Art Fair.