Cosima von Bonin - ohne Titel

Cosima von Bonin
ohne Titel
1997
Set of 8 silkcreen prints on Fedrigoni Old Mill
65 x 50 cm / 50 x 65 cm each
Ed 31/100
signed and numbered

Cosima von Bonin (*(1962, Mombasa, Kenya; living and working in Cologne, Germany) is known for her sculptures and installations created from fabric and readymades.

As in this edition, which consists of eight silkscreen prints, Cosima von Bonin frequently transforms everyday objects and scenes by shifting proportions, reinterpreting materials and surfaces, or questioning their relationship to reality. Here presumably found photographs—most of which depict children and adults engaged in leisure activities—are juxtaposed with drawings and set against vivid, bold colors, thereby woven into a visually cohesive series that recalls silkscreen prints of the 1960s. 

Her artistic practice is conceived as inherently shaped by a wide range of cultural and social influences, interwoven with deeply personal experiences that often remain opaque to the viewer. In her works the emphasis is intentionally placed not on the autonomous, self-contained artwork, but on a broader constellation of references and relations. Consequently, exhaustive interpretative frameworks are neither feasible nor desired by the artist.
Nevertheless, von Bonin’s visual vocabulary—characterized by irony and a sense of play—remains open to allusions and cross-references to both art history and popular culture. While her recurring and readily recognizable motifs invite immediate associations, the construction of meaning is ultimately delegated to the audience. 

 In 2024, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and Mudam Luxembourg opened major exhibitions of her work. In 2022, her installation on the façade of the Giardini’s Central Pavilion welcomed visitors to the Cecilia Alemani-organized The Milk of Dreams at the 59th Venice Biennale. She has also participated in Skulptur Projekte Münster (2017), Glasgow International (2016), and Documenta (2007 & 1982). One-person exhibitions have taken place at CCS Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany; Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri; Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam; Kunstverein in Hamburg; Magasin III Jaffa, Tel Aviv; mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and SculptureCenter, Long Island City, New York, among others.

Her work is also a part of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Boros Collection, Berlin; Bundeskunstsammlung, Germany; Dallas Museum of Art; Deichtorhallen Hamburg; Metropolitan Museum, New York; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and Museum of Modern Art, New York, among others.

Cosima von Bonin is represented by Petzel Gallery, New York; and Galerie Neu, Berlin.