“3 models for the west (triptych)”

Objects, collages and videos are part of Felipe Cohen's artistic universe, but it is mainly the investigation of volume that marks the artist's career. Graduated in drawing and sculpture from Faap (in 2000), in 2001 he had his first solo exhibition at the São Paulo Cultural Center (Exhibition Program). He presented his work at the Morumbi Chapel, at the Maria Antonia University Center, at the Madrid International Art Fair, ARCO, (Solo Projects), and participated in important group exhibitions such as the 8th Mercosul Biennial. He received the Fiat Mostra Brasil award in 2006, and his work is part of the collection of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art.

Felipe Cohen investigates the construction of space through pure and perfectly arranged forms. The parts fit together precisely, even when simply supported. His drawings are clean, precise and volumetric. Even when he works with the two-dimensional, as in his geometric landscapes, depth is highlighted, making these collages appear to be piles of small fragments piled up at different heights.

It is very common in his work to use everyday elements, such as glasses, lamps and clothes pegs, and what draws our attention is that Felipe maintains their scales. According to Douglas de Freitas, the artist "...normally works on the scale of the utensil"1. It is as if the idea were materialized from an existing object and from then on there was the intervention. This becomes clear when we see "Catedral" (2009), a work composed of a wooden clothes peg and a perfectly fitted piece of marble. This not only supports it, but makes us notice its entire design and the strength of the elevation of our gaze, as is desired in cathedrals in general. Another important aspect of Felipe's work is also noticeable: the mixture of materials of different nobility, always used clearly. There is no coating whatsoever. In the world of architecture, one would say that the artist seeks the truth of the material. Felipe combines marble and plastic in "Land Escape #7" (2013), felt and basalt in "Feltro #3" (Felt #3), from the Meio dia series (2010), and wood and gold leaf in "Ícone caixa #1" (Icon Box #1) (2012). The combinations are usually unusual, but they make perfect sense when we carefully analyze what we are presented with.

It is hard not to notice the importance of the title in the artist's works. The words are carefully chosen and say a lot about the ideas contained therein. In "Chão ou Vão" (2013), Felipe says: "In fact, the title “Chão ou Vão” came from the realization that this visual game has as its purpose the search for landscapes that suggest openings, falls and dizzying plots. From then on, what I especially liked was the perception of a paradoxical relationship between the “objective” of the game and its formal characteristics. In the process of constructing these images, placing a piece can mean opening up space and not simply filling in the limits by finding the right piece for the missing space." (Description about the work "Chão ou Vão").

Felipe Cohen's objects are like sparks that radiate a light that takes us far away. They are like films that seem to expose everything in a comprehensible way in those few minutes, films in which the title and its content seem to make perfect sense, but from time to time we find ourselves thinking about them and relating them to different situations we have experienced.

Jacopo Criveli brilliantly highlights important characteristics of Felipe Cohen's work: "... it is precisely in the transcendence of the small things that inhabit Felipe Cohen's work, in the simplicity with which elements, which our experience tells us should be ordinary and banal, reveal themselves to be charged with a surprising importance, that the core of his poetics resides. And the way in which the artist provides us with this epiphany is what makes it lasting, what makes it a discovery that we can take far beyond the limits of the exhibition space..."2.

1. Text Every day the same time, by Douglas de Freitas, about the installation Poente, in the Capela do Morumbi. Source: http://www.museudacidade.sp.gov.br/exposicoes-expo.php?id=108

2. VISCONTI, Jacopo Crivelli. The Transcendence of Small Things. Source: http://www.galeriamillan.com.br/pt-BR/texto-critico/33