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In June I learned to my disappointment that after a full year of remission following a bone marrow transplant, my leukemia had relapsed. I reflect with some satisfaction that I continued to make art throughout my entire life, and I continue to make art now. My daughter Lee recently asked me my wishes about preserving the legacy of my artwork. We discussed the idea of creating a retrospective book representing my 35 years as a printmaker and painter and agreed to see the project through, publishing the book under my own imprint, Bridge Press.
Brian D. Cohen: A Retrospective will reproduce about 200 prints and paintings I have chosen from my work since 1987. About my work in prints I have written: I embrace themes of loss, futility, destruction, and unexpected, redemptive beauty, themes tied to the tradition of printmaking, whose imagery has always tended toward critical commentary and serious contemplation, and often toward humor and irony as well. The process of etching is physical and elemental, requiring force and pressure, inviting aggression and then delicacy, conjoining fire, water, earth, and air. There is something about setting an image into metal that implies permanence, duration, and enduring presence.
On my painting: Painting in the landscape lets me observe light, color, and shape, simplifying or obscuring detail in favor of larger forms and the broader swell of color, a harmony that speaks of time, light, and distance all at once. I aim for "a great colored undulation...an irradiation and glory of color...a colored state of grace," as Cézanne would have it.
The book will be designed by Marjorie Merena and printed by Leahy Press in Montpelier, Vermont in a 10” vertical x 11” horizontal format, in both a softbound edition and a signed limited run hardbound edition. Dr. Sura Levine, Professor of Art History at Hampshire College, will contribute an essay on the artist.
My goal is to raise $10,000 through this Indiegogo campaign, in addition to dedicating personal and private resources to the project.
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Participants:
Brian D. Cohen, Artist, is a printmaker, painter, educator, and writer. He was graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with high honors from Haverford College and completed his Master's degree in Painting at the University of Washington. In 1989 he founded Bridge Press to further the association and integration of visual image, original text, and book structure. As a printmaker, Brian has shown in over forty individual exhibitions and has participated in over 200 group shows. Cohen's books and etchings are held by major private and public collections throughout the country. Brian was a prize winner of major international print competitions in San Diego, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Mexico City, and was awarded the Best Book in Show at the Pyramid Atlantic Book Fair. Brian was an art teacher at The Putney School from 1985 until 2021, where he was also founding director of Summer Programs and Dean of Faculty. He is a frequent contributor of artwork to literary reviews and other publications, including the Paris Review. His essays on arts education were a regular feature of the Arts and Culture section of the Huffington Post, and he has written essays and book reviews for Art in Print, The Aspen Ideas Festival, TEDWeekends, and the International Journal of Art and Art History, among other publications.
Dr. Sura Levine, Author, is Professor of Art History, Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies, holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Chicago. She is a specialist in the social history of 19th and 20th century European and American art with a particular interest in representations of class and gender in Belgian art. Levine has published essays and catalogue entries for museum exhibitions and scholarly journals in the United States and Europe, including “A Hymn to Labor, A Hymn to Nation: Constantin Meunier’s Representations of Work and the Monument au Travail,” “From Noble Beggars and the Corrida to the Café ‘El Burrero,’” "Constantin Meunier: A Life of Labor," and "Pauvre Belgique: Collecting Practices and Belgian Art in and Outside of Belgium." She has been working on topics in the Holocaust, including a study of the attack on the 20th Convoy, and various topics in art and visual culture of the Holocaust especially as it pertains to artists active in Belgium during WWII.
Dr. Taryn E. Fisher, Project Manager, holds a Doctorate in Leadership from Franklin Pierce University, an M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship from Babson College, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Brooklyn College, and a B.S. in Journalism from Southern CT State University. She is Gallery Director at The New Leaf Gallery in Keene, New Hampshire, is on the faculty at Keene State College, and is owner of Artful Business Advisory, LLC. She has worked in arts and business management and education throughout her career.
Marjorie Merena, Designer, holds a degree in book arts from Pratt Institute, where she studied with Laura Young. In addition to book design, she enjoyed a long career as a multiform designer and paper engineer. Her work has been shown in galleries throughout the northeast. ‘Noel’ a cut paper design was featured in the 53rd Street windows of the Museum, of Modern Art in New York for the month of December, 1989. She lives on a sunny hillside in Vermont.
Leahy Press, Printer, is a family business in Montpelier, Vermont, passed down from generation to generation since 1930. Leahy Press is a certified member of the Forest Stewardship Council and the Chamber of Commerce, dedicated to environmentally friendly printing practices.
