Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen records a moment in our life not just as a single occurrence, but as the moments of our journeys through time and space.
Country: UNITED STATES
Education: New York University
Notable Awards:Portrait of President Bill Clinton, 1995
2005-2006 Open Society Fellow
Achievements:Collectors include: Johns Hopkins University, The Aids Project - HERO; The Baltimore Opera, Evergreen Resources Inc., 118th Preakness Celebration; Founding artist of the National Park Service Artist in Residence Program - "PASTA".
Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen records a moment in our life not just as a single occurrence, but as the moments of our journeys through time and space. His vibrant images seem to have a life of their very own...as they leap out of the very fabric of their environments. Touched by color, inspired by the movement of life's cycles, the artist celebrates the power of motion, spirituality and the excellence of a performance and or a landscape. He paints the memory of the event whether it is on stage or in everyday reality.
Watch Schlossberg-Cohen Video
Mr. Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen began his professional painting career in 1973. He began with oils, than moved to acrylics, pastels, charcoal, and ink as he painted landscapes, cityscapes, live performances on paper and canvas incorporating his cut-out technique. Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen specifically credits his artistic influences to 20th century modern masters Henri Matisse and Romare Bearden.
Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen has maintained a daily ritual of sketching and painting as he tries new techniques and perfects his own visual style. He creates dozens of studies on-site, and using these images as a foundation, he prepares several variations the exact size of the final painting. He then cuts the images into pieces. From there he reassembles the many fragments of pigment, layer upon layer. As he builds up this layering, he manipulates the placement until he has developed a sense of energy and motion incorporating negative space and vibrant colors into the composition. The final work is a succession of moments that gives the viewer a sense of the entire performance or a 360-degree perspective of the landscape.
Jay has maintained a successful studio in Baltimore for over sixteen years, focusing on his fine art and community-based public art. His body of works range from intricate landscapes, performers and dancers, musicians, youth projects, and sacred works. Jay's recognition as a leading national and international fine artist combined with his Broadway musical and Hollywood film production background has allowed Jay to serve the visual and performing arts community at the state and city government level in various capacities.
Recently, Jay received the prestigious Open Society Institute Community Fellowship to continue the Rebuilding through Art Project (RAP) in West Baltimore. As an Open Society Fellow, his most important role as an artist has been to find a way for his art to serve non-profit groups fighting for social, economic, and artistic change. He is honored that his art has been used to raise money nationally for the arts and social justice institutions.
Jay received his BFA from New York University with Honors in Film. At that time, the logical extension of his ability to capture motion was to successfully produce Broadway musicals and "B" feature films in New York and Hollywood. Mr. Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen produced the original production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the Actors' Studio in New York and continued with the "Tony" award winning show on Broadway. Jay served as Director of the Maryland Film Commission from 1987 to 1993 and worked on more than 35 Hollywood productions, including John Water's Hairspray and Barry Levinson's television series Homicide.
From his first formal studio in New York City in 1978 to today, Jay's works are a part of private and public collections worldwide including: The Clinton White House (currently on permanent display at The Clinton Presidential Library and Museum), The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The National Park Service, Pioneer Natural Resources Company, The Witkin Windows, The Baltimore Opera Company, Rocky Gap Country/Bluegrass Festival, The Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore, The Peabody Preparatory, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the 118th Preakness Celebration.
Jay's paintings engage us because of the abstract to real moments captured on canvas, paper and in some instances full city blocks. Whether a famous performer, an image of our favorite mountain view or the neighbor next door, Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen imparts dynamism, a force, a magic into the image that moves you to a new level of seeing, of feeling, of experiencing the cycles of our lives.
GALLERY M is Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen's national gallery and represents his full body of works.
