Shir Cohen

Shir Cohen is a multidisciplinary artist who scrutinises the historical progression of the violent othering of minority groups, particularly of Jewish and Queer people. Often incorporating found objects and working in a range of media, Cohen weaves together stories relating to experiences of oppression to examine the condition of living in extended personal and political crisis. Their research has focused on how violent ideologies have informed medical classifications of gender, race and sexuality. Cohen traces the developments in the mechanisms of othering to contemporary discussions of violent state repression and the modes of communication of far-right digital platforms.

Born in Jerusalem in 1990, Cohen received their BFA at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, in 2015 and subsequently undertook a research project on Aesthetics and Bias in cooperation with the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Krakow, Poland. They went on to gain a MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2018, where they were supported by the Clore-Bezalel scholarship. Their work has been featured in exhibitions throughout Israel and internationally in London, Mexico City and Krackow. They live and work in London.