James Cohan Gallery: 25th Anniversary Exhibition "All About 25"

All About 25

James Cohan, New York

May 16 - July 25, 2025

Yinka Shonibare

Red Shoes, 2025 

Mixed media 

70 7/8 x 70 7/8 x 11 3/4 in., 180 x 180 x 30 cm

© Yinka Shonibare, courtesy of James Cohan

James Cohan presents All About 25, an exhibition celebrating the gallery’s twenty-fifth anniversary, on view at James Cohan’s 52 Walker Street location. 

The James Cohan Gallery, established in 1999, is a vital player in the contemporary art world, known for its commitment to artistic innovation and cross-cultural dialogue. Founded by James and Jane Cohan,  the gallery has carved out a distinctive niche by fostering relationships with both emerging and established artists, as well as by championing underrepresented voices. David Norr, who served as James Cohan’s Senior Director from 2015 to 2018, was named partner in 2018 and co-owner in 2021. 

Located initially in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, James Cohan Gallery opened during a transformative period for contemporary art in the city. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw a migration of galleries to Chelsea, where spacious industrial buildings allowed for ambitious exhibitions. Cohan leveraged this momentum, bringing a thoughtful and international approach to gallery programming. His vision centered on building a program that was not only commercially viable but also intellectually and culturally resonant.

One of the key aspects that sets James Cohan Gallery apart is its emphasis on representing a diverse range of artists from around the globe. The gallery has been instrumental in presenting the work of artists such as Trenton Doyle Hancock, Elias Sime, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Firelei Báez, and Fred Tomaselli. These artists work in various media and often grapple with themes of identity, history, technology, and globalization.

By maintaining an international focus, the gallery has created a dynamic platform for intercultural exchange. Exhibitions often cross traditional boundaries of geography and genre, providing a broader lens through which to view contemporary artistic practices. Cohan’s support for African, Asian, Latin American, and diasporic artists demonstrates a forward-thinking commitment to global narratives.

In addition to its Chelsea origins, James Cohan Gallery expanded to locations in the Lower East Side and Tribeca, adapting to the evolving geography of the New York art scene. These moves were not merely logistical but reflected a strategic effort to remain close to emerging art communities and experimental practices.

The gallery is also recognized for its innovative curatorial approaches. It regularly features thematic exhibitions that explore pressing contemporary issues, bridging historical and contemporary art in novel ways. For example, shows that juxtapose canonical artists with contemporary voices help create dialogues that are both challenging and generative.

The originality of James Cohan Gallery lies in its ability to balance commercial success with critical engagement. It is not merely a venue for sales, but a space where contemporary issues are interrogated through the lens of art. Its programming often emphasizes storytelling, layered histories, and aesthetic experimentation.

Moreover, James Cohan Gallery is known for its long-term relationships with artists, which allows for deeper collaboration and the development of ambitious projects. This trust-based model contributes to the originality of the exhibitions, as artists are encouraged to take risks and push their creative boundaries.

James Cohan Gallery stands out as a thoughtful, globally-minded, and artist-centric institution in the contemporary art world. Its history reflects not only the trajectory of one gallery, but also broader shifts in the cultural landscape of the 21st century. Through its innovative programming, commitment to diverse voices, and intellectual rigor, the gallery continues to influence how contemporary art is produced, exhibited, and understood.

All About 25 features the work of artists who have shaped the gallery’s past, present, and future. Many of the paintings, sculptures and installations made specifically for the exhibition symbolically tie to the number 25. 

Participating artists include: Ranti Bam, Kathy Butterly, Alexandre da Cunha, Simon Evans and Sarah Lannan, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Spencer Finch, Gauri Gill, Michelle Grabner, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Federico Herrero, Yun-Fei Ji, Byron Kim, Mernet Larsen, Teresa Margolles, Kelly Sinnapah Mary, Josiah McElheny, Jesse Mockrin, Lee Mullican, Christopher Myers, Jordan Nassar, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Kaloki Nyamai, Scott Olson, Eamon Ore-Giron, Katie Paterson, Naudline Pierre, Matthew Ritchie, Hiraki Sawa, Shinichi Sawada, Yinka Shonibare, Elias Sime, Diane Simpson, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Tomaselli, Bill Viola, and XU ZHEN®. 

A silver anniversary commemorates the 25th year of a significant event and represents the enduring nature and brilliance of a long-lasting relationship or achievement. Spencer Finch’s, Ag, 2008, is a series of 10 gelatin silver photographs, featuring modern pieces of silver (trays, pitchers and bowls) from a private collection in Philadelphia. The title references the symbol for the element in the periodic table. Collapsing the medium and subject–using silver to create images of silver–these photographs confound the distinctions between representation and the real.

New works by Byron Kim, Josiah McElheny and Jordan Nassar explore the mathematical and spatial potentials of the number 25 to diverse effect. Byron Kim’s Synecdoche (1991–present) is an ongoing project of portraiture that now comprises more than 500 10 x 8 in. panels in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. Each panel is painted a single color recording the skin tone of the sitter. Synecdoche was a watershed for the artist when it debuted at the 1993 Whitney Biennial, and subsequent iterations have been seen in installations and exhibitions around the world. For this exhibition, Kim documented the skin tones of 25 members of the James Cohan team, continuing his explorations of the history of abstract painting, the problems of color and vision, and issues of human identity and existence while creating a collective portrait of a community.

Jordan Nassar’s newest embroidery, Mountain of Years, 2025, depicts cascading hills expanding across the field of the canvas. The artist renders the striated mountainscape in 25 distinct shades of rich greens and cool blue threads, offset by a peachy-pink sky.

Josiah McElheny’s Interior Geometry I, 2025, references a universe of unlimited possibility in a hand-cut and polished glass tetrakis hexahedron with 24 facets, its entirety constituting the 25th. The transparent and reflective surfaces of the suspended solid glass form act as both mirrors and windows, where we can peer inside and see ourselves. With morphing perspectives and reflections, the work celebrates a multiplicity and diversity of perspective.

“Reaching this milestone is both humbling and energizing,” says James Cohan, founder and principal. “Our journey has been defined by incredible partnerships with artists whose vision and dedication continue to inspire us. This anniversary celebrates their work.”

JAMES COHAN

52 Walker Street, New York, NY 10013

www.jamescohan.com

Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present

Sharjah Biennial 15

Thinking Historically in the Present

7 February - 11 June 2023

Pipo Nguyen-Duy

Courtesy of the artist

Yinka Shonibare

Courtesy of the artist

Kahurangiariki Smith

Courtesy of the artist

Nusra Latif Qureshi

Courtesy of the artist

Archana Hande

Courtesy of the artist

Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) brings together over 150 artists and collectives from more than 70 countries for the 15th edition and 30-year anniversary of the Sharjah Biennial. Conceived by the late Okwui Enwezor and curated by the Foundation’s Director Hoor Al Qasimi, Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present reflects on Enwezor’s visionary work, which transformed contemporary art and has influenced the evolution of institutions and biennials around the world, including the Sharjah Biennial.

Al Qasimi interprets and elaborates on Enwezor’s proposal with a presentation of more than 300 artworks—including 70 new works—critically centring the past within contemporary times. These works, as well as a wide-ranging programme of performance, music and film, activate more than 19 venues in 5 cities and towns across the emirate of Sharjah: Al Dhaid, Hamriyah, Kalba, Khorfakkan and Sharjah. Among the many venues are sites within Sharjah’s historical quarter; buildings recently restored and transformed by the Foundation including The Flying Saucer and Kalba Ice Factory; and repurposed structures that once served as a vegetable market, medical clinic and kindergarten. Free and open to the public, Sharjah Biennial 15 runs 7 February through 11 June 2023, with opening week events taking place from 7 February to 12 February.

“Two decades ago, I experienced Okwui’s Documenta 11 which, with its radical embrace of postcolonialism, transformed my curatorial perspective. His idea of ‘thinking historically in the present’ is the conceptual framework for the Biennial, which we’ve sought to honour and elaborate on while also reflecting on the Foundation’s own past, present and future as the Biennial marks its 30-year anniversary. We look forward to welcoming local audiences and visitors from around the world to reflect on the Biennial’s themes and the artists’ wide-ranging perspectives on nationhood, tradition, race, gender, body and imagination,” said Al Qasimi.

For Enwezor, the contemporary art exhibition provided a means to engage with history, politics and society in our global present. Enwezor’s proposition of the ‘postcolonial constellation’ and its pluriverse of key concepts form one point of departure for the 15th edition of the Sharjah Biennial. Re-envisioning the proposal by the late curator, Al Qasimi builds upon her own long-term relationship with the Biennial, as visitor, artist, curator, and eventually as director of the Foundation.

Pak Khawateen Painting Club

Courtesy of the artist

Carolina Caycedo

Courtesy of the artist

Inuuteq Storch

Courtesy of the artist

Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah

Courtesy of the artist

Lavanya Mani

Courtesy of the artist

The 19 venues spread across the emirate of Sharjah—from heritage buildings and historical landmarks to modern architecture of the late 1900s and contemporary spaces—connect different moments of Sharjah’s history as well as its diverse communities and landscapes. Through more than 300 artworks, the Biennial proposes a transcultural universe of thought embedded into this local social fabric, involving Sharjah’s own lived past in a nuanced conversation around postcolonial subjectivity, the body as a repository of memories, restitution, racialization, transgenerational continuities, and decolonisation. Rooted in intimate and caring observations of everyday lives and vernacular traditions, performances, concerts, workshops and other public programmes will activate the venues as well as regional art centers located in each city, forming a capillary reach across the emirate throughout the four-month duration of the Biennial.

Expanding upon Enwezor’s initial proposal, Al Qasimi has collaborated with artists to embark on more than 70 new works, including many major commissions, that relate and respond to SB15’s overarching theme of centering the past within the present, thereby bridging diverse postcolonial histories.

Major new commissions by John Akomfrah, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Doris Salcedo, Berni Searle and Barbara Walker testify to the lingering after-effects of colonialism. A feature-length film by Coco Fusco, installation by Bouchra Khalili, multimedia work by Almagul Menlibayeva and sound installation by Hajra Waheed reactivate and reimagine the political conflicts precipitated by the modern nation-building process.

Brook Andrew and Isaac Julien reflect upon museumised objects and their restitution, while Destiny Deacon, Robyn Kahukiwa and Tahila Mintz assert the significance of indigenous identities and values. In the works of Gabrielle Goliath, Amar Kanwar, Wangechi Mutu and Carrie Mae Weems, individual histories are interwoven with collective notions of memory, grief and transformation.

Also premiering in SB15 are works that engage with the local context of Sharjah. Kerry James Marshall proposes an outdoor installation in the form of an archaeological find inspired by fact, myth and tales, while Lubaina Himid and Nil Yalter dive into the urban fabric of Sharjah with their public interventions. Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Asma Belhamar, Kambui Olujimi, Prajaka Potnis and Veronica Ryan present site-specific projects that converse with and recontextualise the old and new architecture of the Foundation.

Performances and theatrical presentations will be on offer throughout the Biennial. Gabriela Golder, Hassan Hajjaj, Rachid Hedli, Tania El Khoury, The Living and the Dead Ensemble and Aline Motta will activate their work during the opening week in February. In conjunction with the annual March Meeting, Marwah AlMugait, Shiraz Bayjoo, Naiza Khan and Akeim Toussaint Buck will perform in early March. Musical programmes featuring musicians Youssou N’Dour and Abdullah Ibrahim will follow in March and April, with additional performances to be announced later.

Amar Kanwar

Courtesy of the artist

Angela Ponce

Courtesy of the artist

Semsar Siahaan 

Courtesy of the artist

Tahila Mintz

Courtesy of the artist

SHARJAH BIENNIAL 15 PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme - Maitha Abdalla - Fathi Afifi - Hoda Afshar - John Akomfrah - Moza Almatrooshi - Marwah AlMugait - Hangama Amiri - Brook Andrew - Malala Andrialavidrazana - Rushdi Anwar - Kader Attia - Au Sow Yee - Dana Awartani - Omar Badsha - Natalie Ball - Sammy Baloji - Mirna Bamieh - Pablo Bartholomew and Richard Bartholomew - Shiraz Bayjoo - Bahar Behbahani - Asma Belhamar - Rebecca Belmore - Black Grace - Diedrick Brackens - Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons - Cao Fei - Carolina Caycedo - Ali Cherri, Wook-Kyung Choi - Maya Cozier - Iftikhar Dadi and Elizabeth Dadi - Solmaz Daryani - Annalee Davis and Yoeri Guépin - Destiny Deacon - Manthia Diawara - Imane Djamil - Anju Dodiya - Kimathi Donkor - Heri Dono - Rehab Eldalil - Ali Eyal - Marianne Fahmy - Brenda Fajardo - Raheleh Filsoofi - Nina Fischer and Maroan el Sani - Coco Fusco - Flavia Gandolfo - Theaster Gates - Malek Gnaoui and Ala Eddine Slim - Gabriela Golder - Gabrielle Goliath - Yulia Grigoryants - Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige - Hassan Hajjaj - David Hammons - Archana Hande - Fathi Hassan - Mona Hatoum - Rachid Hedli - Lubaina Himid - Laura Huertas Millán - Saodat Ismailova - Isaac Julien - Saddam Jumaily - Patricia Kaersenhout - Robyn Kahukuiwa - Reena Saini Kallat - Hanni Kamaly - Amar Kanwar - Adam Khalil and Bayley Sweitzer with Oba - Bouchra Khalili - Naiza Khan - Tania El Khoury - Kiluanji Kia Henda - Ayoung Kim - Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Hiroji Kubota - Remi Kuforiji - Lee Kai Chung - Faustin Linyekula - The Living and the Dead Ensemble - Ibrahim Mahama - Nabil El Makhloufi - Jawad Al Malhi - Waheeda Malullah - Maharani Mancanagara - mandla - Lavanya Mani - Kerry James Marshall - Queenie McKenzie - Steve McQueen - Marisol Mendez - Almagul Menlibayeva - Helina Metaferia - Kimowan Metchewais - Meleanna Meyer - Joiri Minaya - Tahila Mintz - Roméo Mivekannin - Tracey Moffat - Aline Motta - Wangechi Mutu - Eubena Nampitjin - Dala Nasser - New Red Order - Pipo Nguyen-Duy - Mame-Diarra Niang - Shelley Niro - Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi - Elia Nurvista - Kambui Olujimi - Zohra Opoku - Selma Ouissi and Sofiane Ouissi - Erkan Özgen - Pak Khawateen Painting Club - Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah - Hyesoo Park - Philippe Parreno - Angela Ponce - Prajakta Potnis - Anita Pouchard Serra - Jasbir Puar and Dima Srouji - Monira Al Qadiri - Farah Al Qasimi - Nusra Latif Qureshi - Michael Rakowitz - Umar Rashid - Wendy Red Star - Veronica Ryan - Doris Salcedo - Abdulrahim Salem - Sangeeta Sandrasegar - Varunika Saraf - Khadija Saye - Berni Searle - Mithu Sen - Nelly Sethna - Aziza Shadenova - Smita Sharma - Nilima Sheikh - Yinka Shonibare - Felix Shumba - Semsar Siahaan - Mary Sibande - Kahurangiariki Smith - Mounira Al Solh - Inuuteq Storch - Vivan Sundaram - Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum - Obaid Suroor - Hank Willis Thomas - Akeim Toussaint Buck - Hajra Waheed - Barbara Walker - Wang Jianwei - Nari Ward - Carrie Mae Weems - Nil Yalter

Working Group and Advisory Committee

Thinking Historically in the Present is being realised by Al Qasimi as curator with support from the Sharjah Biennial 15 Working Group, which also supported the development and realisation of March Meeting 2021 and 2022. The Working Group is comprised of Tarek Abou El Fetouh (Director of Performance and Senior Curator, Sharjah Art Foundation); Ute Meta Bauer (professor and Founding Director of NTU CCA Singapore); Salah M Hassan (professor and art historian, Cornell University and Director of The Africa Institute, Sharjah); Chika Okeke-Agulu (professor and art historian, Princeton University); and Octavio Zaya (independent curator, art writer and Executive Director of the Cuban Art Foundation). The Advisory Committee includes Sir David Adjaye (architect) and Christine Tohmé (Director, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut).

March Meeting 2023: The Postcolonial Constellation: Art, Culture, Politics after 1960

Coinciding with the Biennial, the Foundation presents its annual convening of artists, curators, scholars and arts practitioners from around the world to discuss vital issues in contemporary art. March Meeting 2023 will explore the global political, social and economic systemic and structural shifts that characterized the world since the 1960s by revisiting the histories of this period while examining concepts such as first nation and indigenous practices, creolization, hybridity and supranational formations, such as the Black Atlantic, diasporas, exile and statelessness, along with artistic, ideological and philosophical perspectives on decolonization.

March Meeting 2023 builds on the two previous March Meetings that served as a prelude to the Biennial and were similarly conceived in relationship to Enwezor’s conception of the “postcolonial constellation”: Unravelling the Present (March Meeting 2021) and The Afterlives of the Postcolonial (March Meeting 2022). Talks and panels from the 2021 and 2022 editions are available online at: sharjahart.org/march-meeting-2021/programme. The March Meeting Papers, a series of eleven commissioned essays by art historians and scholars chosen through the March Meeting 2021 open call, are also available online at: 

sharjahart.org/sharjah-art-foundation/publications/march-meeting-papers.

SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION

sharjahart.org

Double Dress: Yinka Shonibare, a Nigerian-British Artist at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Double Dress: Yinka Shonibare, a Nigerian-British Artist

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

May 31 - October 29, 2002 

The first mid-career retrospective of Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare premieres at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Organized by the Israel Museum, Double Dress: Yinka Shonibare, a Nigerian/British Artist features over 20 works, including large-scale installations, paintings and photographs. By interweaving African and traditional English motifs and imagery, Shonibare addresses critical issues of inter-culturalism with both sensitivity and humor. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by the Israel Museum.

Drawing upon his own life experiences, Yinka Shonibare creates works that examine notions of identity and affiliation while challenging aesthetic and social structures and conventions. Born in London in 1962, Yinka Shonibare moved to Lagos, Nigeria with his family when he was a young boy. At seventeen he returned to England where he studied art at Goldsmiths College. His works are filled with both cultural collisions and confluences and often combine elements of "high" and "low" art.

A number of Yinka Shonibare's life-size installations recreate scenes from classical European paintings using mannequins dressed in Victorian costumes made of fabrics with African motifs. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews without Their Heads (1998), for example, was inspired by Thomas Gainsborough's famous portrait of the British gentry, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews (1748-49), and explores the relationship between British aristocracy and colonialism, suggesting that the wealth of the upper classes was often a result of the colonization of Africa.

One of the artist's central themes is the "dandy," and Yinka Shonibare often portrays himself as this aristocratic, witty, and decadent character. In many of his photographs, Shonibare also places himself in carefully staged scenes featuring iconic images of English high society. In his twelve-part photographic work Dorian Gray (2001), Yinka Shonibare assumes the role the namesake of Oscar Wilde's novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, inspired by scenes from the 1945 film version of the novel.

"Shonibare's exploration of identity and affiliation in diverse societies could not be more timely," stated James Snyder, director of the Israel Museum. "The issues he addresses are affecting the social fabric of nations throughout the world, but are especially relevant to Jerusalem, whose history has been shaped by the confluence of so many cultures. The Israel Museum is a perfect venue for presenting the work of this important artist."

Yinka Shonibare's work is in numerous private and public collections, including the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; The National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome; The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

"Shonibare's work is extremely powerful, intelligent and witty," noted Suzanne Landau, curator of the exhibition and Chief Curator of the Arts at the Israel Museum. "He captures the essence of our time by juxtaposing and combining disparate cultures and traditions, which makes his work so significant and meaningful today."

Yinka Shonibare was born in London in 1962. He grew up in Nigeria, his family's country of origin, and returned to England at the age of seventeen. This bicultural artist has created a significant body of critically acclaimed paintings, photographs, and installations that address issues of identity, class, and race. Using wit and humor, he uncovers the many layers of contemporary culture and its historical baggage.

In the early 1990s Yinka Shonibare began using faux-African cotton prints, fabrics that had become an expression of African identity, but were in fact products of colonial commerce and industry that originated elsewhere. At first he stretched the fabric across square frames, arranging them in a grid on the gallery wall; later he began to play with the fabrics in elaborate, nineteenth-century Victorian dresses and corsets. By the late 1990s his subject matter had expanded to include aliens and astronauts, along with spoofs of classic European high culture from Hogarth and Fragonard to Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde. New themes, such as the nuclear family, were introduced, and familiar themes were explored in new contexts, for example, the colonial aspects of space travel.

As his work evolved, Yinka Shonibare also began experimenting with a wider variety of media, including photography and digital imaging. This increased range of methods has allowed the artist to make pointed critiques across a spectrum of political, social, and cultural concerns, and it has given him the opportunity to situate the "African" prints in novel contexts, keeping the ironic incongruities fresh and sophisticated.

Although often linked to colonialism and identity, Yinka Shonibare's works are not defined by this connection. "I hate conclusive things," he insists. "I think once a piece is conclusive, it's dead. The mind should be allowed to travel and have fantasy and imagination. People's minds need to wander."

The exhibition is on view in the Nathan Cummings 20th Century Art Building. 

A catalogue accompanies this exhibition.

ISRAEL MUSEUM, JERUSALEM

www.imj.org.il