There is an invisible realm where things merge and essences reveal themselves. I call that emergence “Beauty”.
-Paddy Cohn

Paddy Cohn is an abstract artist whose sensuous, mysterious explorations into textures, layers and distressed materials reflect a childhood spent in the landscapes of the Caribbean.

After graduating from FIT, Paddy spent a decade in New York City as a successful textile designer, only to return to her roots in St. Thomas in 1989. There, a passion was born for vibrant optics, distressed textures and the forgotten elements of nature- from sand to mica to driftwood. Her work began with more literal renderings of the Caribbean landscape, expressed in seascape and portraiture. It evolved into the opulent color, mixed-media abstractions she is known for today. Work born, though more quietly, of Caribbean inspiration.

Paddy’s work has been collected, commissioned and displayed in corporate and private collections from the Caribbean to New York to Europe.

Artist statement:

Like the sun-ravaged Caribbean landscapes of her youth, nature saturates Paddy Cohn’s work. Colors explode and textures merge and mutate. Layers of paint mix with elements of nature, effaced, defaced, eroded and distilled. Like maps of some invisible reality, only mystery and beauty remain. In the words of artist Gerhard Richter, to whom her work has been compared, “My paintings know more than I do.”

Exhibitions

2020 – ART WEEK ST BARTH, St. Barth, FWI
2020 – DCOTA WINTER MARKET, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2019 – ART IN UNEXPECTED PLACES, Miami, FL
2019 – ART EXPO, solo exhibition, NYC
2019 – ART MARKET AND DESIGN, Bridge Hampton, NY
2019 – REVEAL ART FAIR, Saratoga, NY
2019 – ART COLLECTIVE / SUMMER GALLERY, Bridge Hampton, NY
2019 – ST BARTH ART CLUB, NY
2019 – WINTER FIRE, group exhibition, NYC
2018 – SOLO EXHIBITION, Greenwhich Village, NYC
2018 – ARTIST GALLERY RECEPTION, group show, NYC
2018 – ART BASEL/SPECTRUM, Miami, FL
2018 – POP UP SHOW, solo exhibition, Montclair, NJ
2017 – ARTISTS OF ST BARTH, St. Barths, FWI
2017 – STAGE LEFT, solo exhibition, New Brunswick, NJ
2017 – PUBLIC FACTORY/Soho Grand, Soho, NYC
2016 – GEORGES BURGESS GALLERY, Soho, NYC
2016 – ART AFTER DARK, Tribeca, NYC
2016 – LONDON ART MERCHANTS, London, UK
2016 – CLIFF TOWNHOUSE, solo exhibition, Dublin, IR