Bruce Cohen
Bruce Cohen is a painter’s painter; genuinely concerned with the theoretical and technical aspects of painting. His paintings are a combination of observations, memories and invented details, which paired with his mastery of the material, instinctively draws the viewer into his world. Working from maquettes and small color studies, he begins first with graphite renderings of light and shadows and then moves into what he calls the “observation collage process.” This process, which combines memory and reality, elicits his characteristic surrealist style.
Cohen has been painting for over forty years. He comes from a deeply art historical background, which has unquestionably informed his work. Most apparent is the nod to Dutch 17th century still lifes and floral paintings. Dutch still life painters demonstrated mastery of the medium with meticulous detail and tightly rendered compositions. Nothing is out of place and everything is purposeful. As with Rene Magritte and Max Ernst, stylistically, Cohen’s refined brushwork and his commitment to the illusion of three-dimensionality, accentuate the dreamlike quality of his interiors. Cohen’s paintings, though pretty, are also dramatic. He is a master of shadow and light, at once accepting and rejecting realism. Similar to the film sets of German Expressionist movies, which …
Bruce Cohen is a painter’s painter; genuinely concerned with the theoretical and technical aspects of painting. His paintings are a combination of observations, memories and invented details, which paired with his mastery of the material, instinctively draws the viewer into his world. Working from maquettes and small color studies, he begins first with graphite renderings of light and shadows and then moves into what he calls the “observation collage process.” This process, which combines memory and reality, elicits his characteristic surrealist style.
Cohen has been painting for over forty years. He comes from a deeply art historical background, which has unquestionably informed his work. Most apparent is the nod to Dutch 17th century still lifes and floral paintings. Dutch still life painters demonstrated mastery of the medium with meticulous detail and tightly rendered compositions. Nothing is out of place and everything is purposeful. As with Rene Magritte and Max Ernst, stylistically, Cohen’s refined brushwork and his commitment to the illusion of three-dimensionality, accentuate the dreamlike quality of his interiors. Cohen’s paintings, though pretty, are also dramatic. He is a master of shadow and light, at once accepting and rejecting realism. Similar to the film sets of German Expressionist movies, which disoriented viewers with their disregard for conventional perspective and proportions. Cohen deliberately exaggerates and dramatizes a scene to affect an emotional response.
Bruce Cohen’s paintings are held in numerous esteemed public and private collections, among them the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art, Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, Palm Springs Desert Museum and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, among others. He has shown his paintings in exhibitions at Leslie Sacks Gallery, Santa Monica, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, and Kohn Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, among others.
Courtesy of Leslie Sacks Gallery