JO-HS and Trotter&Sholer are pleased to announce Elysium, the first solo exhibition by American contemporary artist Ezra Cohen in Latin America. This presentation of mostly large-scale figurative and abstract works explores “the other side of the veil” as mythological paradise and apocalyptic destruction. His process-intensive paintings are characterized by a flattened high-contrast of color, texture, and forms culminating from religious origin stories, art history, mythology, nature, and metaphysics. In his attempt to make sense of life’s big questions, Cohen’s meta-realistic art practice draws upon history and the spiritual realm to detach from the world around him and to ultimately, transform it. This series, painted between 2023 and 2024, builds upon Cohen’s previous body of work, deepening the narrative and meaning of “Elysium.”
Art history is a fundamental element of Cohen’s process as he aims to expand upon the legacy of the Abstract Expressionists from the New York School as in the bold, abstract use of color persistent in the work of Cohen’s late mentor, Colombian-American painter, muralist, and sculptor, Knox Martin, while subjects from Cezanne, Matisse, Delacroix and traditional Japanese illustrator Ogata Korin are ever present here. Cohen’s works bend preconceived notions of paradise, earthly delights, and fantasies imbued with divinity in search of a new consciousness and stylistic possibilities that stem from the lineage of his masters. This series of works began at Cohen’s studio space in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City and concluded in Mexico City as an artist-in-residence during the month of March.
Elysium will be on view at the JO-HS gallery in Mexico City, Mexico, Gobernador José Guadalupe Covarrubias 46 San Miguel Chapultepec from April 6th through May 30th, 2024.
