Geri Cohen

Latexual, 2020

Materials: Used Latex Gloves, Resin
Work in progress
3 x 4ft



Latexual, 2020

Materials: Used Latex Gloves, Resin
Work in progress
3 x 4ft

I have asked the members in my household as well as friends and family throughout NJ and NY to collect latex gloves as a marking in time during Covid-19. Being that New Jersey and New York are the epicenters of the virus and also happen to be the states that my community lives in, it felt appropriate to source them “locally”. The process of working with these used gloves has proven to be extremely grotesque. There is dual nature to the gloves, existing as a protective skin-like barrier but also as a conundrum of germs that latch on to the latex during use.

Miss Resurrected, 2020

concrete wall mural
mirrored glass, door hardware, spray paint, acrylic house paint, cement adhesive
Work in progress
16 x 28ft

Miss Resurrected, 2020

concrete wall mural
mirrored glass, door hardware, spray paint, acrylic house paint, cement adhesive
Work in progress
16 x 28ft

At the start of Covid, upon returning to my hometown in Jersey, I revisited an old work site in which I made a mural out of found materials two years back (see Miss). This mural was on its last limb with many of the materials broken or weathered on the wall. This area is now under construction however the wall still stands for an unknown amount of time. I ripped down my “permanent” materials I initially cemented down, ultimately destroying the old mural in order to make grounds for a new one. While destroying the old and making room for the new, I am working with reflective material to make the wall “disappear”.

Thee Tree of Knowledge, 2020

Materials: paper, glue, PVC pipes, wood, canvas, resin, spray paint, acrylic
Work in progress
Studio Installation, 10ft tall x 6 ft growing

Thee Tree of Knowledge, 2020

Materials: paper, glue, PVC pipes, wood, canvas, resin, spray paint, acrylic
Work in progress
Studio Installation, 10ft tall x 6 ft growing


Spring Cleaning, 2019

A chandelier, T-shirts, report cards, costume jewelry, family photos, Coca Cola can, bottle caps, swim cap, lipstick, Chanukah oil bottles, computer keyboard, last seasons sunglasses, CDs, business cards, CCs, headphones, Speakers, newspapers, clipboards, mirrors, shoelaces, shopping bags, ribbon, containers, plane letters, train tickets, boarding passes, highlighters, keys, spray paint.
8 x 10ft



Spring Cleaning, 2019

A chandelier, T-shirts, report cards, costume jewelry, family photos, Coca Cola can, bottle caps, swim cap, lipstick, Chanukah oil bottles, computer keyboard, last seasons sunglasses, CDs, business cards, CCs, headphones, Speakers, newspapers, clipboards, mirrors, shoelaces, shopping bags, ribbon, containers, plane letters, train tickets, boarding passes, highlighters, keys, spray paint.
8 x 10ft

Spring Cleaning, Video, 2019

This video addresses generational connections through the gathering of objects. It portrays a male and female that are connected at the head making reference to Adam and Eve, who in Jewish folklore are believed to be initially attached at the head and then split into two, ultimately giving breath to their offspring. This piece began as a collaboration with 167 of my cousins in order to commemorate ten years of my grandparents passing.

Miss, 2018

Concrete Wall Mural
Plastic canisters (neck), container caps (hair), deconstructed door hardware (lips and ear), spliced up football (nose), ULINE metal bars, wood planks, nails and screws (eyes and lashes), shards of mirror, empty concrete glue tubes (eyebrow), spray paint and exterior house paint.
16 x 28 ft

Miss, Video, 2018

Miss, is a time-lapse video of the creation of a wall mural over the course of 4 months. The character depicted is forced to withstand the cold winter, hot summer and numerous other conditions in order to test her permanence. This is a site specific work build using materials only from a demolished room in my house.

Artist Statement

Rooted in the histories of the Jewish Diaspora, I reconfigure language and origin to recontextualize long-held notions of Jewish heritage, identity, and ideology. I rephrase ancient biblical texts in my installations through collaging and incorporating modern materials such as resin, spray paint, and adhesive to play with ideas of transparency and opacity. I often use the detritus that my family leaves behind to make compositions speak about intergenerational commonalities that exist site-specifically. Part of a continuous body of work, the works shown are tactile and – literally – come off the wall or canvas activates my body–a Jewish body–to fuse and connect ancestral roots, land, time, spirituality, religion, and what often seems like disparate identities. Constantly shifting between the world of art liberality and Jewish community uniformity, I want to establish my coexistence in these two systems. The remixing I enact is an evolution of “Jewishness” in the modern world.