BEN COHEN

Ben Cohen studied Industrial Design at the Pratt Institute in New York City, Consumer Product Design with Eva Zeisel and took classes at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. For many years he was a toy and jacquard sweater designer as well as a freelance commercial artist.

Ben taught at the Center for Arts in Marlton, NJ and at the Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, NJ.

He is also a signature member of the Pastel Society of America, the Pastel Society of New Mexico, the Pastel Society of the West Coast, the Philadelphia Water Color Society, and serves on the Education Program Committee at the Fleisher Art Memorial.

Ben is affiliated with the Muse Gallery in Old City, PA, and is also a member of the Philadelphia Sketch Club. He has exhibited nationally and has won numerous awards. He is also associated with art-exchange.com.

"My paintings are in many private and corporate collections including Public Service Electric and Gas, Equity Bank, Farmers and Mechanics Bank, Smith Kline Beecham, Marsh and McLennan, Towers Perrin, Merck Medco, the Camden County Courthouse, The Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey, and the Brown University Library in Providence, RI.

My paintings range from expressive realism to semi-abstract; and I work in pastel, gouache and transparent watercolor.

I try to make the viewer "wake up" to life as we know it. I do this by the use of ordinary subject matter and hopefully an exciting handling of color, content and format. I want to give my message in a direct easy-to-understand manner.

I look for the something in areas and situatinos thought of as "nothingness", and I invite the viewer to participate in these situations. Sometimes I do people with scenes and sometimes scenes with people. For the most part I feel that much of the so-called nothingness can be uplifting and thought-provoking. In addition, I feel the artist must continue to grow and convey a message.