NANCY COHEN: The State We're In

THESTATEWE’REIN NANCYCOHEN

Onthecover:

"TheStateofThings”

TheStateWe’reIn March28throughMay4,2024 179TenthAvenue NewYork,NewYork NancyCohen

“We’reinastate—it’sunavoidable.Welookin,weworry.Welookout, weworrymore,”Cohensays.

Nancy Cohen’s unconventional drawings, drawn with paper pulp and fritted glass, find their origin in her move to Jersey City in the 1980s. Alongtheshoreandwaterways,theevergreenvegetationthrivingamid industrialwastesparkedCohen’senvironmentalawareness.Waterways,as subject and imagery, draw from personal experience and recur in her workassymbolsofnature'sabilitytoendureadversity.

In "The State We're In," Cohen pursues the theme of survival, environmentallyandpersonally.Cohendescribesherprocessas“thinking with her hands.” Concerns outside the studio and challenges within are explored through physically pushing the boundaries of paper and glass. Thematerialsserveascollaboratorsandprovocateurs,wherefusedglass objects or a handmade paper are repurposed as source material and inspiration for later works. Cohen’s choices of materials and processes challengenotionsoffragilityandresilience.Likefrittedglassundergoing transformationinakiln,Cohen’sworkfocusesonstrengthandbeautyin thestruggleforsurvival.

“NancyCohenholdsaBFAfromtheRochesterInstituteofTechnology andanMFAfromColumbiaUniversity.Throughouthercareer,shehas receivednumerousawardsandresidencies,including6fellowshipsfrom theNewJerseyStateCouncilontheArts.

Cohen has been the recipient of various awards, such as the Pollock KrasnerFoundationGrantandtheYaddoArtistResidency.Mostrecently shewastherecipientoftheStudioResidencyGrantatWomen’sStudio Workshop and a Fellowship at MacDowell in 2023 where many of the drawingsinthisshowbegan.Shehasalsobeenanartist-in-residenceat prestigiousinstitutionsliketheWheatonArtsandtheStudioatCorning. Herworkisincludedinseveralpublicandmuseumcollections,suchas theYaleUniversityArtGallery,theNewJerseyStateMuseum,andthe Hudson County Community College. This is Cohen’s fourth solo exhibitionwiththegallery.