jessecohen.com

Recently, I decided to increase my micro blogging presence. Twitter provides such a unique opportunity to connect with anyone out there. Back when twitter was new, I posted my first tweet in April of 2008 @artdc. Find that tweet here. At that point, my account didn’t get much use! Shame on me for lost time!

A few months ago I realized the value twitter, and began to build a useful profile! With a wider reach,  it was necessary to separate my art and personal profiles. I felt it was confusing to mix too many layers of conversation in one place. So I started @theJesseCohen to talk a bit more about my personal and science interests. I find it to be both shocking and exciting to broadcast information, and then receive a response. There is a new personal layer of communication that has been developing. We are moving beyond the connection of a landing page and comments. I’m glad to be on board with a new level of understanding.

The year is off to a good start. Well, really were’e into it, but that’s a good thing. No response yet from other Jesse Cohen’s out there, I’m still interested in networking with all of you, and providing some links to your sites incase folks are looking for you.  The internet is small enough.

This year, my personal focus is on art and business development.  I’m excited about my current work, and it’s a pleasure to spend my days focusing on creative entrepreneurial activities.

2011 and 2012 have been great for a bit of press attention.  Find those articles here:

July 26, 2011 – GALO Magazine, “The Man Behind The Movement”
September 12, 2011 – The Chevy Chase Patch, “Artist Spotlight: Jesse Cohen”
December 22, 2011 – The Washington Post, “‘Petri Dish’ exhibit riffs on scientific themes with diverse media”
January 19, 2012 – The Gazette, “The Art of Networking”
Find a more complete press listing in the about page above.

It’s my goal to keep pushing forward.  The story will continue to grow.

In the field of molecular biology we work with systems and materials that are understood but not seen. Our experiments and processes are viewed secondhand through results of chemical interactions left on a plate or a photographic image of a gel marked by a passing reaction. Our work seems to exist at an odd intersection between the abstract and the concrete.

My work is representative of that idea. If you draw close to any object, soon it begins to take on abstract qualities. For example, we are used to seeing still-life images at a certain distance; arm’s length or more. Yet, once you enter into a flower’s stamen for a look around, you’ve arrived at Terra Incognita where everything is fresh and unknown.

In these images I’ve moved in close for a different view, focusing sharply on human curves or a flower’s organs. This sets the image clearly in the real world with an abstract composition, yet lets the fields dissolve into the sensuous contrasting forms that are unnoticed periphery in everything we see.

In the art scene, new artists are often unintentionally hidden from the public. Artists must create and allow for their own discovery through active networking.

artdc.org’s goal is to fill this gap in the Washington, DC art scene by providing an environment for emerging and established artists to communicate with each other, with galleries and with collectors. artdc.org was created to allow us to push our art scene and our own development through our expanded communication.