Painter Aliza Cohen Makes Bay Area Homecoming

October Potrero Open Studio Showcases Artist's Bundles and Passages

Aliza Cohen, a 27-year-old artist and Bay Area native has just returned from living in Shanghai, China. Cohen displays her new series of paintings and drawings, "Bundles and Passages" at 1890 Bryant Street Open Studios, October 20-21, 2005. The opening takes place on October 19 at 6 p.m.. Cohen's homecoming show of small, sometimes tiny, mostly figurative paintings and drawings, reflects her experience of trying to grapple with the alienation of meshing with a culture vastly different from her own.

Cohen received her MFA from Boston University where she studied with internationally known painter, John Walker. Afterwards, she and her husband, an educator, moved to Shanghai, China to teach in their respective fields, Living in Shanghai proved to be an experience worth painting about, and since her return this spring, Cohen's work has been exhibited throughout the country; in New York, Sacramento and Portland.

The twenty new paintings and drawings use rich paint handling and expressive color to depict the figure in various strange and sometimes unnerving situations.  Cohen describes the series as "a deep exploration of my experiences traveling throughout China and Southeast Asia, as well as my recent return to San Francisco. This collection of artwork is an attempt to amplify or diffuse the relationships between objects to create poignant moments in paint that illuminate the tension or delight of my personal journey." These reflective, thought-provoking pieces are a wonderful look into the artist's journey and offer San Franciscans a glimpse of the work of a local and emerging painter with a lot to say.

Links:

Aliza Cohen

http://alizacohen.com/

Cohen's Mentor, John Walker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_(painter)

1890 Bryant Artists' Site

http://www.1890bryant.com/artists.html