American artist Helen S. Cohen takes up the thread of Abstract Expressionism in her mixed media compositions.
Helen S. Cohen, Echo 1
The scratched marks, diffuse washes, collage elements and broad brushstrokes fleetingly evoke landscapes and figures, but very quickly retrain our focus on the materials themselves. Fittingly, she cites the formal delights of the painting process as her main source of inspiration, informed by artists like Joan Mitchell and Cy Twombly — though Cohen’s influences seem to stretch further back as well. Yet her work remains vividly contemporary: each piece leaps to the fore, with graphite, collage and bold streaks of paint bursting through layers of acrylic wash.
The resulting compositions are as rich as they are unpredictable. Swooping lines and odd forms encounter more rigid geometric shapes; areas saturated with color diffuse into pale, watery expanses; jagged lines scraped into the paint give way to fragments of collaged patterns. Cohen’s organic and riveting conjugations of disparate formal strategies produce enduring works that testify to the pleasure the artist took in their creation.
Exhibition Dates: December 20, 2012 – January 12, 2013
Reception: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 6-8 pm
Gallery Location: 530 West 25th St, New York City
Gallery Hours: Tues – Sat, 11a.m. – 6 p.m.
Event URL: http://www.agora-gallery.com/artistpage/Helen_S._Cohen.aspx
About the Exhibition
In The Odyssey Within viewers are introduced to art that takes the power of tradition and melds it with the thrilling novelty of the present. Charming, thought-provoking and intelligent, this is art with the ability to inspire. Pathway to Abstraction explores the force and creativity that consummate skill offers when combined with a feeling of daring and innovation. Lively, lovely and full of energy, the art contains both breadth and depth in terms of both content and technique. The artists of Sensorial Realms sensitively investigate the complex layers of human thought and imagination, yet remain carefully rooted in the physical world. The result is an appealing meeting of everything that is most fascinating about human nature and experience.
