Corydon Cowansage American, b. 1985
"My recent paintings consist of repeating, suggestive biomorphic forms that evoke shapes, patterning, and movement found in nature and the body. The forms allude to things like touching lips, leaves, tongues, splitting cells, drips, wrinkles, waves, teeth, flowers, or skin. I depict the abstract forms in my paintings with a naturalistic sense of light and shadow, giving them a physical presence that seems rooted in reality. My paintings are full of perceptual shifts and uncanny spatial illusions. They’re often tightly cropped and sometimes they feel like micro/macro views of things in the real world.
I usually start out making lots of quick ink sketches on paper. If an idea seems interesting, I’ll make a painting on paper with acrylic paint, and sometimes I'll make a few different versions of the same image. If a painting on paper is successful, then I’ll turn it into a painting on canvas. Through this process of translating and re-translating an idea, I try to fine tune the composition, and find strange or unexpected color relationships through trial and error."
Lives and works in New York
Corydon Cowansage (b. 1985, Philadelphia) received an MFA in painting from RISD and a BA in art from Vassar College. She has participated in residencies at the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Yale Norfolk School of Art. Cowansage's work was most recently exhibited in solo shows at Sean Horton Presents (New York, NY), Chart (New York, NY), Koki Arts (Tokyo, Japan), and Reynolds Gallery (Richmond, VA). Her work has been included in recent group shows at Sperone Westwater (New York, NY), Ruschman Gallery (Chicago, IL), G/ART/EN (Como, Italy), Y2K Group (New York, NY), and Good Naked (Brooklyn, NY), among others.
SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2023
[Forthcoming] Two-person show with Douglas Reiger, Ojiri Gallery, London, UK
2022
Sean Horton (Presents), New York, NY
2021
Chart, New York, NY
2019
Koki Arts, Tokyo, Japan
Curvy, Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA
2016
Dwell, 17 Essex, New York, NY
Creeper, with Austin Lee, curated by Jenny Baumat, Benedikt Wyss, and Philippe Karrer, Deli Projects, Basel, Switzerland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
[Forthcoming] curated by Amy Lincoln, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY
[Forthcoming] Everyday Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
[Forthcoming] Taymour Grahne Projects, London, UK
Entelechians, curated by Rob Thomas and Eric Suwall, Ruschman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2021
∞, Y2K Group, New York, NY
Desire and Anxiety, curated by Vince Vanden Bogaard, G/ART/EN, Como, Italy
2019
Home Alone, curated by Jaqueline Cedar, Good Naked, Brooklyn, NY
2019
Beautiful Makers, curated by Kevin Umana, The Ekru Project, Brooklyn, NY
SPRING/BREAK Art Show, curated by Ian Etter, New York, NY
2018
Afire, curated by Andrew Straub and Elliott Chambers, Skylab, Columbus, OH
2018
Color We'll, curated by Alex Allenchey, Barney Savage, New York, NY
When Geometry Smiles, curated by Eric Hibit, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY
Highlight, Hollis Taggart, New York, NY
RE_ARRANGE, Juxtapoz Proejcts at MANA Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2017
Windowsill, Mountain, Brooklyn, NY
First Year, 17 Essex, New York, NY
Drawer, organized by Flat File, Deli Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2016
Stone Soup Nasty, organized by Katherine Aungier, Jennifer Lee, Zuriel Waters and Steven Mykietyn, Orgy Park, Brooklyn, NY
2015
AIM Biennial, curated by Hatuey Ramos-Fermin & Laura Napier, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
Salon Show, (harbor) / Regina Rex, New York, NY
2014 Detail Oriented, curated by Craig Poor Monteith, James Graham & Sons, New York, NY
Gravity, curated by Claudia Bitran & Bayne Peterson, Projekt722, Brooklyn, NY
The Woodpile, John Bianchi Studio, Brooklyn, NY
The Last Brucennial, BHQF, New York, NY
Against Nature, curated by Craig Poor Monteith, James Graham & Sons, New York, NY
2013
Surface Intentions, Harbor, Brooklyn, NY2012Almost Famous, Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA
2012
The Woodpile, John Bianchi Studio, Brooklyn, NY
HONORS AND AWARDS
2013 W.K. Rose Fellowship, Vassar College
2012 West Collects Prize, The West Collection
2007 Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship, Yale University