"WHEN MY PAINTINGS RESOLVE THEMSELVES IN A MORE GEOMETRIC WAY, THEY ARE THEN MORE PURELY ABSTRACT. WHAT I FEEL, WHAT I ANTICIPATE, WHAT I REMEMBER, WHO I AM, COMES TO THE FORE."
Jean Cohen had a six-decade-long career as an abstract painter, educator, and active participant in Manhattan's Downtown scene. She was a member of early co-op galleries, like Tanager and Area, from the late 1950s; and would go on to co-found Soho's artist-run Landmark Gallery in 1972.
Her artistic direction was influenced by her education at Cooper Union in the late 1940s, where she formed lasting friendships with fellow artists Lois Dodd, Alex Katz, and Bill King. Unlike Dodd and Katz, Cohen embraced nonrepresentational, metaphysical expression, blending the Bauhaus principles she learned at Cooper Union with the spontaneity of Abstract Expressionism.
Cohen's paintings from the late 1950s onward are known for their geometric masses and interaction of color and form, embodying both spiritual and human elements. She described her work as a fusion of external and internal experiences, aiming to "symbolize a world of perception." Critics including Dore Ashton and Larry Campbell reviewed her favorably, and critic Pat Sloane recognized her as a "painter of meta landscapes" with a transcendental quality. Her works from the 1970s and 1980s often incorporated humor and playful elements, merging Pop Art's playfulness with Color Field opticality. Despite her significant contributions to painting in the Downtown era, she remains relatively unknown today.
Throughout her career, Cohen received awards from the Adolph and Ester Gottlieb Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Cohen was also an educator, teaching and lecturing at institutions such as Cooper Union, Philadelphia College of Art, and Skowhegan School of Painting. She continued to exhibit her work into the early 2000s, and participated in group exhibitions with the American Abstract Artists. Jean Cohen passed away in 2013 in Shirley, New York.