Jeff Cowen

Jeff Cowen (born Jan 9, 1966, New York, New York) is an American art photographer known for painterly photo mural collages and street photography.

Family

Cowen is the great grandson of a founder of the Cowen Group, a brokerage.

Art and Career

His work often incorporates elements of collage and painting. He studied photography with Elaine Mayes at the Tisch School of the Arts in New York. His early images made at age 20 of prostitution in the meat district in in New York City are in the permanent collection of the New York Historical Society [cite web|url = http://dlib.nyu.edu/eadapp/transform?source=nyhs/photographer.xml&style=nyhs/nyhs.xsl |title = Guide to the Photographer FileCa. 1882-1999PR 050 |accessdate = 2008-07-14] .

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 [http://www.leapforkids.org/ 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. Miriam Jordan, " [http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114505937960426590-JaBq2TSBeFiQZQHvDQ0IBaFtacI_20060519.html Illegal at Princeton] ", "Wall Street Journal," 15 April 2006.]

At age 23, Cowen's images of the Romanian Revolution appeared in: "The Manchester Guardian,Dubious|date=March 2008 Tel Aviv Post, Yomiru Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun."Fact|date=July 2007 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 [cite web|url = http://www.actuphoto.com/page.php?page=pronews/news_complete&id=1651 |title = « Grand Prix Du Livre Thomas Cook » Deuxieme Edition Et De La « Bourse Du Voyage Thomas Cook » Actuphoto.Com Photographie |accessdate = 2008-07-14] . In 2005, his first monograph was published by Paris Musees [cite web|url = http://www.paris-musees.com/site/index.php4 |title = Paris-Musées - Les musées de la ville de Paris |accessdate = 2008-07-14] . That monograph contains his early New York work and his painterly Mural collages of nudes. In 2007, Cowen collaborated with filmmaker and writer [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_S._Labarthe Andre Labarthe] founder of the Cahiers du Cinema for his exhibition called The Lotus Eaters [cite web|url = http://www.lensculture.com/cowen-lotus.html |title = lens culture: Jeff Cowen, The Lotus Eaters |accessdate = 2008-07-14] , inspired by a story in Homer's 'The Odyssey'. Currently, Jeff Cowen is based in Berlin Germany and Paris France.

elected exhibitions

2007 - ArtBasel Art Fair, Galerie Bernd Kluser
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

Publications and Press

2007 - Kultphoto, porfolio Lotus-Eaters, Italie
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

Notes

External links

* [http://www.lensculture.com/cowen.html Audio interview and photos by Jeff Cowen]
* [http://www.jeffcowen.eu/ Jeff Cowen web page]
* [http://www.seine51.com/artistes/cowen_bio.htm Biography and list of exhibitions]