Today is my dad’s 80th birthday! I’m not in New York celebrating it with him, but instead I spent it making a pilgrimage to two places that are very important to him. The first place was the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome (images 1–6). My dad came here in 1971 and for the next few years he was making enormous (like 9 feet or 3 meters tall) paintings of the side chapels, which Borromini designed when he was directing renovations of the church’s interior. I stood in the exact spots where my dad stood 54 years ago and tried to recreate the compositions from his paintings.
The second place was the Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, also in Rome. There’s a hidden doorway behind the altar with a spiral staircase that leads down to Borromini’s Falconieri Crypt. I asked if I could go in, but they said no. My dad got the same answer 54 years ago, but convinced the priest by pulling out some paper and sketching the crypt to show he was serious. He spent a few hours down there and took a series of self portrait photographs (images 7-8). He ended up coming back multiple times and there’s a longer story that’s utterly hilarious (not surprising if you know my dad), but you have to hear that directly from him for the full effect :)
I love clicking through his website and watching how those baroque church paintings morphed and deconstructed into his next body of work, which was years of abstraction. It’s very similar to the evolution from his bull paintings into his latest abstract paintings. I can highly recommend trying both :) Link in bio.
I love you, dad! Watching you work is one of the greatest pleasures in my life. Happy birthday
@arthur_cohen_artist
Images:
1. Baroque Chapel #7 (1974)
2. Photo from today
3. Baroque Chapel #4 (1972)
4. Polaroid from today
5. Dark Baroque Chapel with Green Molding Stripe (1975)
6. Photo from today
7. Self portrait in Falconieri Crypt (1971)
8. Contemplating Mortality (1974)
9. Dad and me at the paint store
#arthurcohen #arthurcohenartist
