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Michael Cohen

Biography to Display: 

1936Born Boston, Massachusetts

EDUCATION

1957BFA Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts

1957Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Dear Isle, Maine

APPRENTICESHIPS AND RESIDENCIES

1959Year-long Fellowship, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1997—Michael Cohen Tiles

BIOGRAPHY

Although most of Michael Cohen’s work is functional pottery, at the age of 59 he made a series of sculptural figures influenced by images drawn from Egyptian art. His interest in clay emerged from a required class in ceramics with Charles Abbott during his sophomore year at Mass Art. Abbott was a production potter and Cohen found he liked the repetition involved in making functional work.

In 1961 Cohen opened his studio in Newton, Massachusetts making stoneware tablewares and, occasionally, sculptures. Shortly after, he moved to a larger shared space with fellow potter William Wyman, Herring Run Pottery in East Weymouth. Since 1973, Cohen has been working at a large studio in Amherst, Massachusetts focused primarily on tile making with his son. In 1997 he designed a line of tiles that became so popular that he stopped making any other work. Cohen and his former wife, Harriet, were the first wholesalers of studio pottery to have an order blank, resulting in a major shift in the way buyers purchased crafts. 

An interview with  Michael Cohen conducted August 11, 2001 by Gerry Williams, for the Archives of American Art’s Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America is available at:
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-michael-cohen-11754.

Public Collections

Public Collections to Display: 

deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts

Jack Lenor Collection, Longhouse Foundation, Easthampton, New York

Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York

Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

Objects USA, Johnson Collection, Racine, Wisconsin

Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bibliography

Bibliography to Display: 

Baird, Daryl E. The Extruder Book. Westerville, OH: American Ceramic Society, 2000.

Hopper, Robin. Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface. Iola, WI: KP Books, 2004.

Latka, Tom and Jean Latka. Ceramic Extruding: Inspiration & Technique. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2001.

Lawton, Jim. 500 Teapots. Asheville, NC: Lark Crafts, 2013.

Smith, Paul J. and Akiko Busch. Objects for Use: Handmade by Design. New York, NY: H.N. Abrams in association with the American Craft Museum, 2001.

Tourtillott, Suzanne J. E. 500 Tiles: An Inspiring Collection of International Work. New York, NY: Lark Books, 2008.

 

CV or Resume: Click Here to Download
Source: www.michaelcohentiles.com

Website(s):

www.michaelcohentiles.com

 

Typical Marks
1960---
1973----
1994
2002
ca 2014
Bowl
Date: 1955-1957
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown
Surface Technique: Glaze, Slip
Photo: Artist
Bowl
Date: 1962
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown
Surface Technique: Slip, Wax Resist
Photo: Artist
Photo: Artist
Sculpture
Date: March 24, 1994
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Mixed Methods
Surface Technique: Stain
Photo: Loren Maron
Photo: Loren Maron
Photo: Loren Maron
Photo: Loren Maron
Vase
Date: 2002
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Hand-Built, Extruded
Surface Technique: Glaze
Heart in Hand Tile, detail
Date: 2013
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Press Mold
Surface Technique: Glaze
Photo: Artist
Sea Turtle Tile
Date: 2013
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Press Mold
Surface Technique: Glaze
Photo: Artist
Photo: Artist
Bread Basket
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Mixed Methods, Extruded
Surface Technique: Glaze
Photo: Artist
Photo: Artist
Vase
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown, Slab-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze
Photo: Artist
Photo: Artist

Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified June 23, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/cohen