Jeff Cowen
Encyclopedia
Jeff Cowen is an American art photographer known for painterly photo mural collages and street photography.
at the Tisch School of the Arts
in New York. His early images made at age 20 of prostitution in the meat district in New York City are in the permanent collection of the New York Historical Society.
Cowen continued his career in photography when he worked as assistant for master American photographers Larry Clark
from 1988–1990, and Ralph Gibson
from 1990-1992. At the beginnings of their careers, Clark was the assistant of W. Eugene Smith
and Gibson was the assistant of Dorothea Lange
.
From 1988 to 1994, Cowen photographed the tough neighborhoods of New York. He began teaching photography at LEAP in 1994.
At LEAP, Cowen met and mentored the young but brilliant illegal immigrant Dan-el Padilla http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2006/04/28/news/15457.shtml helping him to earn a scholarship to Collegiate School in New York City. Success at Collegiate School led Padilla to a scholarship at Princeton University where he graduated with the highest distinction and was offered full scholarship at Oxford University. Due to Padilla's illegal immigrant status, Padilla and Cowen were both featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal that highlighted some of the absurdity and rigidity of U.S. immigration laws.
At age 23, Cowen's images of the Romanian Revolution appeared in: The Manchester Guardian, Tel Aviv Post, Yomiru Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun. Cowen then took up drawing and anatomy (1994–1995) at the Art Students League of New York
with the intention of using his drawing skills to further his photographic art.
In 2001, he based himself in Paris, France. He was awarded the Thomas Cooke Award for Photography. In 2005, his first monograph was published by Paris Musees. That monograph contains his early New York work and his painterly Mural collages of nudes. In 2007, Cowen collaborated with filmmaker and writer Andre Labarthe founder of the Cahiers du cinéma
for his exhibition called The Lotus Eaters, inspired by a story in Homer's 'The Odyssey'. Currently, Jeff Cowen is based in Berlin, Germany, and Paris, France.
2006 - The Lotus-Eaters, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2006 - Fotografies, exposition collective, A/34 Gallery, Barcelone
2006 - Galerie d’Art de Créteil, Premières rencontres photographiques, Créteil
2005 - L’art et la guerre, Exposition collective, La Filature, Mulhouse
2005 - Art Paris, 7ème édition, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2004 - Art Paris, 6ème édition, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2004 - 1987-2004 work, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2003 - Art Paris, 5ème édition, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2003 - Shoot and Die, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2001 - The Scroll Paintings, The Point Gallery, New York
2001 - Ming, Chaos Night Club, New York
2000 - China Studies, Luise Gallery, New York
1999 - Shoot and Die, Vitrines Calvin Klein du Bergdorf Goodman, New York
1994 - South Bronx, Collegiate School, New York
1993 - Chris D’Amelio, Curates Solo Show of West 14th Street at The Space, New York
2006 - The Lotus-Eaters, textes de André S. Labarthe, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2005 - In Liberation, Photographie International, Photo magazine, Art actuel
2004 - Jeff Cowen, Monographie, Editions Paris-Musées, Galerie Seine 51
2003 - Dreams through the glass, Editions Assouline
2003 - Exposition Shoot and Die: Beaux Arts, Photo magazine, Paris Match, Chronic’art, Update, Playboy magazine, Nudus…
1999 - New York Post, page 6, Bergdorf Goodman installation
1992 - New York News Day, South Bronx Photographer
1990 - Romanian Revolution: Manchester Guardian, Tel Aviv Post, Yomiru Shimbun, Asashi Shimbun
Art and career
His work often incorporates elements of collage and painting. He studied photography with Elaine MayesElaine Mayes
Elaine Mayes is an American photographer.Known for her portraits of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury residents in 1967-8 and for her iconic images of rock and roll performers in the late 1960s, Mayes' subject matter has also included landscapes and conceptual projects including her series,...
at the Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
in New York. His early images made at age 20 of prostitution in the meat district in New York City are in the permanent collection of the New York Historical Society.
Cowen continued his career in photography when he worked as assistant for master American photographers Larry Clark
Larry Clark
Lawrence Donald "Larry" Clark is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for the movie Kids and his photography book Tulsa...
from 1988–1990, and Ralph Gibson
Ralph Gibson
Ralph Gibson is an American art photographer best known for his photographic books. His images often incorporate fragments with erotic and mysterious undertones, building narrative meaning through contextualization and surreal juxtaposition.Ralph Gibson studied photography while in the US Navy and...
from 1990-1992. At the beginnings of their careers, Clark was the assistant of W. Eugene Smith
W. Eugene Smith
William Eugene Smith was an American photojournalist known for his refusal to compromise professional standards and his brutally vivid World War II photographs.- Life and work :...
and Gibson was the assistant of Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration...
.
From 1988 to 1994, Cowen photographed the tough neighborhoods of New York. He began teaching photography at LEAP in 1994.
At LEAP, Cowen met and mentored the young but brilliant illegal immigrant Dan-el Padilla http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2006/04/28/news/15457.shtml helping him to earn a scholarship to Collegiate School in New York City. Success at Collegiate School led Padilla to a scholarship at Princeton University where he graduated with the highest distinction and was offered full scholarship at Oxford University. Due to Padilla's illegal immigrant status, Padilla and Cowen were both featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal that highlighted some of the absurdity and rigidity of U.S. immigration laws.
At age 23, Cowen's images of the Romanian Revolution appeared in: The Manchester Guardian, Tel Aviv Post, Yomiru Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun. Cowen then took up drawing and anatomy (1994–1995) at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
with the intention of using his drawing skills to further his photographic art.
In 2001, he based himself in Paris, France. He was awarded the Thomas Cooke Award for Photography. In 2005, his first monograph was published by Paris Musees. That monograph contains his early New York work and his painterly Mural collages of nudes. In 2007, Cowen collaborated with filmmaker and writer Andre Labarthe founder of the Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
for his exhibition called The Lotus Eaters, inspired by a story in Homer's 'The Odyssey'. Currently, Jeff Cowen is based in Berlin, Germany, and Paris, France.
Selected exhibitions
2007 - ArtBasel Art Fair, Galerie Bernd Kluser2006 - The Lotus-Eaters, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2006 - Fotografies, exposition collective, A/34 Gallery, Barcelone
2006 - Galerie d’Art de Créteil, Premières rencontres photographiques, Créteil
2005 - L’art et la guerre, Exposition collective, La Filature, Mulhouse
2005 - Art Paris, 7ème édition, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2004 - Art Paris, 6ème édition, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2004 - 1987-2004 work, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2003 - Art Paris, 5ème édition, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2003 - Shoot and Die, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2001 - The Scroll Paintings, The Point Gallery, New York
2001 - Ming, Chaos Night Club, New York
2000 - China Studies, Luise Gallery, New York
1999 - Shoot and Die, Vitrines Calvin Klein du Bergdorf Goodman, New York
1994 - South Bronx, Collegiate School, New York
1993 - Chris D’Amelio, Curates Solo Show of West 14th Street at The Space, New York
Publications and press
2007 - Kultphoto, porfolio Lotus-Eaters, Italie2006 - The Lotus-Eaters, textes de André S. Labarthe, Galerie Seine 51, Paris
2005 - In Liberation, Photographie International, Photo magazine, Art actuel
2004 - Jeff Cowen, Monographie, Editions Paris-Musées, Galerie Seine 51
2003 - Dreams through the glass, Editions Assouline
2003 - Exposition Shoot and Die: Beaux Arts, Photo magazine, Paris Match, Chronic’art, Update, Playboy magazine, Nudus…
1999 - New York Post, page 6, Bergdorf Goodman installation
1992 - New York News Day, South Bronx Photographer
1990 - Romanian Revolution: Manchester Guardian, Tel Aviv Post, Yomiru Shimbun, Asashi Shimbun