Changing Room Part II
Rachel Gisela Cohen

Changing Room is an exhibition of recent paintings and drawings by Brooklyn based artist Rachel Gisela Cohen.  Using the decorative as a defense mechanism, Cohen’s work reflects on beauty, surface and the excess of contemporary culture, dancing between the natural and material world. Cohen’s use of paint, pigment, mica, and fabric, enhance the optical intensity and light reflective qualities of her paintings. She stretches fabric and textiles over canvas, cutting and tearing holes to expose her painting’s multiple layers and interior. The holes or chasms in her paintings may allude to a rift in the earth, a garment struggling to cover the body, or a web of growing bacteria. 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 aposomatic organisms and materials found deep inside Costa Rican rainforest ecosystems and New York City’s garment district.

About the Artist
Rachel Gisela Cohen is an artist, independent curator and educator living and working in Brooklyn, NY. She received her MFA in painting and drawing from Pratt Institute and her BA in Art History and Studio Art from Drew University. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the National Endowment for the Arts, Saltonstall Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, the Montclair Art Museum and the Tyler School of Art. She has exhibited works both nationally and internationally, exhibiting work at Pierogi Gallery’s The Boiler, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Hunter College Galleries and the Armenian Art Fair.

For more information about Rachel visit her website at rachelcohenstudio.com or follow her on Instagram.