Mark Cohen

Mark Cohen - Unrealis 8

Artist Biography: Mark Cohen (Geleen, The Netherlands, 1975) graduated in Fine Arts from Maastricht University in 1999, at which point he began receiving various artist grants awarded by the BKVB foundation in Amsterdam. He has exhibited in several galleries and art fairs, both in his native country and abroad. Among them are Galeria Alejandro Sales, Galeria Antonia Puyó, Galeria Magda Bellotti and ARCO in Spain. Also, Galerie Dis, Galerie 59 and Galerie Ruimte morguen in the Netherlands and Belgium. His work is present in various art collections, including the Dutch National Bank and the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation in New York. Mark Cohen's Irrealis series, started in 2015, is a collection of new small-sized artworks produced on paper and enlarged digital prints. These new artworks are no longer based on photographs or artistic renderings, as was the case with his previous works. However, his modus operandi has not undergone drastic changes, since he continues to consider his artistic work as a process of growth in which for each new step he takes as a starting point what is already on paper. The idea of enlarging his initial work through digital printing originated from a visit to the Rembrandt exhibition in Barcelona, where a massive enlargement of Christ Preaching was placed on the wall at the entrance. This enlargement showed details that were normally hidden to the human eye and gave the viewer the sensation of wandering through the image, an experience Cohen sought to achieve with his own work as well.

 

Mark Cohen (Geleen, The Netherlands, 1975) graduated in Fine Arts at the University of Maastricht in 1999, from which time he began to receive various artist grants from the BKVB foundation in Amsterdam. He has exhibited in several galleries and art fairs, both in his native country and abroad. Among them are Galeria Alejandro Sales, Galeria Antonia Puyó, Galeria Magda Bellotti and ARCO in Spain. Also, Galerie Dis, Galerie 59 and Galerie Ruimte morguen in the Netherlands and Belgium. His work is present in various art collections, including the Dutch National Bank and the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation in New York. Mark Cohen's Irrealis series, started in 2015, is a collection of new small-sized artworks produced on paper and enlarged digital prints. These new artworks are no longer based on photographs or artistic renderings, as was the case with his previous works. However, his modus operandi has not undergone drastic changes, since he continues to consider his artistic work as a process of growth in which for each new step he takes as a starting point what is already on paper. The idea of enlarging his initial work through digital printing originated from a visit to the Rembrandt exhibition in Barcelona, where a massive enlargement of Christ Preaching was placed on the wall at the entrance. This enlargement showed details that were normally hidden to the human eye and gave the viewer the sensation of wandering through the image, an experience Cohen sought to achieve with his own work as well. Mark Cohen (Geleen, The Netherlands 1975) graduated from the Academie Beeldende Kunsten of the University of Maastricht in 1999 and subsequently received several start-up grants from the Fonds voor BKVB in Amsterdam. Since then he has exhibited in several galleries and at various art fairs both at home and abroad. For instance: Galería Alejandro Sales, Galería Antonia Puyó, Galería Magda Bellotti and ARCO in Spain but also at Galerie Dis, Galerie 59 and Galerie Ruimte morguen in the Netherlands and Belgium. His work is represented in various art collections such as the Dutch National Bank and the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation in New York. Mark Cohen's Irrealis series is a collection of new, small works of art on paper and enlarged digital prints which he started in 2015. These new works of art are no longer based on photos of architectural representations as they were in the past. Yet his modus operandi has not changed drastically, as he still considers his artworks as growth processes that come into being by his constant reaction to what is already on paper. The idea of enlarging his original works came about following a visit to a Rembrandt exhibition in Barcelona where a massive amplification of Rembrandt's etching Christ Preaching had been placed on the entrance wall. This amplification showed details normally hidden to the human eye and made viewers feel they were wandering right through the image, an experience Cohen was also looking for in his own work.