WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.- Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) presents Nicole Cohen: My Vie en Rose, a new installation by the California-based video artist. Cohen presents an installation of video projections inspired largely by the decorative and fanciful painting Trente Ans ou La Vie En Rose (1931) by the French painter Raoul Dufy. My Vie en Rose will be through December 7, 2003.
"The presentations in Media Field have represented a range of contemporary work in new media, from the most recent politically-based videos in the exhibition pol-i-tick to this new work created especially for the Williams College Museum of Art by Nicole Cohen," says Director Linda Shearer. "Her work is an elegant and wry play between fashion, art, technology, and popular culture. Her light touch belies the veiled critique of contemporary attitudes, and I am sure our visitors will be intrigued by the work of this compelling artist."
Views of the so-called good life
Roughly translated, My Vie En Rose refers to "the good life," the condition of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. Cohen draws parallels between Dufy’s (1877-1953) trademark representations of the lightness, humor, and sheer enjoyment of life and the overabundant desire for pleasure and fantasy that she has encountered since settling in southern California. Cohen creates small-scale digital prints of lush interior spaces onto which she projects video images of figures engaged in a number of indulgent, low-stress activities stereotypical of fun-loving Angelinos.
When Nicole Cohen first moved to Los Angeles in 1997, coming from a harsh winter in New York, she was blinded by the sun reflecting off her winter-white skin. Her first encounters with the city involved tan, healthy, and happy people engaged in life-enhancing activities. She has lived there long enough now to recognize the façade concealing the excess and desperation that so often accompany the relentless search for the next quick fix. In the nine video installations that make up My Vie en Rose, she co-opts the symbols of the life of ease and luxury associated with this facet of LA culture—such as spa treatments, expensive cars, and lavish hotels—and reveals their complexity. My Vie en Rose has been organized by Lisa Dorin, Assistant Curator. A brochure, written by Ms. Dorin, accompanies the exhibition.
