Nancy Cohen

Transgressing Lands: Eleven Contemporary Artists Reimagine a Horizon at The Boiler, Brooklyn, NY

Installation view of Transgressing Lands. Work pictured by Deborah Jack, Nazarin Noroozi, Nancy Cohen, Cristina de Gennaro and Elizabeth Velazquez. Photo by Martin Seck.

Complex Narratives, Conservation & Committing to New Jersey's Waterways
"That zero panorama seemed to contain ruins in reverse, that is—all the new construction that
would eventually be built. This is the opposite of the ‘romantic ruin’ because the buildings don’t
fall into ruin after they are built but rather rise into ruin before they are built. I am convinced
that the future is lost somewhere in the dumps of the non-historical past; it is in yesterday’s
newspapers…in the false mirror of our rejected dreams. Time turns metaphors into things, and
stacks them up in cold rooms, or places them in the celestial playgrounds of the suburbs."
-Robert Smithson, The Monuments of Passaic, 1967
Working with Smithson’s account, We are the River examines how contemporary artists are
inspired by, interact with, and interweave their own stories into the complex history of our
New Jersey rivers. From ecological disaster to personal accounts to community building,
artists will reflect on the significance of our rivers as not only a resource but as shared space
of experience. Using Smithson’s “exploration”, the exhibition will address the past, present
and future of the rivers that once brought life but now threaten the very communities they
help build.

Participating Artists: Nancy Agati, Milcah Bassel, Michael Chovan-Dalton, Nancy Cohen,
Joanie Gagnon San Chirico, Tyrese "Bright Flower" Gould Jacinto, Lauren Rosenthal
McManus, Jean Shin, Rebecca Schultz, Brandon Seidler, Lawre Stone, Amanda Thackray,
Rachel Blythe Udell, Michael Williamson & Cheryl Patton Wu.

The exhibition is curated by Ryann Casey and Allie Wilson and will feature an introductory essay
by Emma Witt, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Stockton
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I’ve been busy and have a range of exciting news to share—about work in museum collections, an exhibition in Taiwan, writing about both projects, this past fall at MacDowell and some upcoming exhibitions.

I was so happy to spend five weeks this fall at MacDowell in beautiful Firth studio, immersed in studio work and in reading work by current and former MacDowell fellows—poetry, essays and fiction, but also about trees, the complex history of materials in our built environment, stone walls and water while I worked on a series of handmade paper drawings influenced by all of it.

I also spent some time talking to writer Alix Woodford about my experiences and am happy to share a few sentences from her article in November/December Art New England: “Nancy Cohen Returns to MacDowell”
“The walls of her studio were hung with works in progress—some just washes of color, other already richly detailed. Her subject matter is often water—textured abstractions of natural waterways, indelibly marked by human industry and pollution. They speak to the entwined fragility of humans and the natural world.”

Once She Dries, Featuring Sculpture, Original Music and Video Projections

Story: Meagan Woods
Installation: Nancy Cohen
Video Projections: Xinyue Liu
Piano + Sound Engineering: Casper Leerink
Violin: Kourosh Ghamsari-Esfahani
Vocals: Amanda Sum

Opening reception: March 3rd 6-9pm
at SMUSH Gallery, 340 Summit Avenue, Jersey City NJ

Gallery hours: Thursdays and Fridays 6-9pm
Saturdays 12-6pm, Suundays 2-6pm and by appointment

More information: https://www.onceshedries.com/

supported by a Denbo Fellowship from Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center, A programming grant from the Jersey City Arts + Culture Trust Fund, and the Puffin Foundation.

NYFA Distinquished Artist Award
link