February 1, 1998
Cora Cohen
Sarah Schmerler
at Jason McCoy, Inc.
Terrains Vagues, 1991
Copper powder, enamel, Flashe, marble dust, oil, oil medium, plastic mesh, polyurethane, on linen
104 x 77 in.
These seven strong abstract works by Cora Cohen are executed in a variety of materials ranging from toxic-looking pools of polyurethane to what the artist calls “paint skins”—dried crusty leftovers scraped off paint cans or other canvases. Clearly Cohen is part of the Abstract Expressionist tradition, but she brings to it more than a little innovation.
The chief delight in these works is texture. In Half Colors of Quarter Things, Cohen allows a bubbly, aqua-tinted goo to harden and crack like pottery glaze. In Untitled, she works up a somewhat mountainous topography of shades of flesh and green and gray, then covers it in places with fine white
marble powder that clings to this terrain like a dusting of snow. To Cohen’s credit, sensuous passages like these never seem overwrought or self-conscious.
Given the amount of paint on the surface of some of these works, it’s surprising that Cohen chooses such light materials as her supports: muslin, thin linen, even drop cloth. This imparts a nice contrast to the artist’s daring brush work.
SARAH SCHMERLER