Exhibition Review: HELLO, MY NAME IS at Jeffrey Deitch
Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles. © Nadia Lee Cohen
Written by Stella Chu
Photo Edited by Lucia Luzzani and Yanting Chen
You need not think of oneself or others as characters in a great film, Nadia Lee Cohen says. Just make sure the film you’re in is a great one.
British-born LA-based photographer Nadia Lee Cohen’s Hello My Name Is opened on May 22 at Jeffrey Deitch. Her first major solo exhibition featured works from both her debut monograph Women (2020) and her latest work, HELLO, My Name Is, featuring Cohen portraying various fictionalized characters as a form of stylized storytelling.
Nadia, North Hollywood, Los Angeles
Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles. © Nadia Lee Cohen
SIMI & HAZE, SUN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA (update)
Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles. © Nadia Lee Cohen
At a first glance, HELLO, My Name Is may seem like self-portraits. When examined further, however, we find that the characters, differing in age, size and gender are not an exploration of herself, but characters she’s created through a collection of name badges, flea market trinkets, and her own imagination. In this way, Cohen is a mastery of puppetry.
“I’m genuinely so fascinated by other people’s personal objects,” Cohen told Dazed & Confused Magazine. “Having an excuse and purpose to go and scour the charity shops, flea markets, and car boots made me feel really content and like I had real purpose.”
Cohen would see certain items and immediately know which character it belonged to, she told AnOther Magazine. “It was really important that they looked like real people, so we would have conversations about whether they had a perm, rosacea or bitten fingernails to make sure there was attention paid to the smaller details.”
Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles. © Nadia Lee Cohen
One character, Kat, sits passively for the photographer with a mellow expression. Among her possessions are pieces of candy, presumably for her grandchildren or any child who’d soon fall victim to her cheek-squeezing, a coupon cutter book, and a “World’s Greatest Grandma” sign.
Another character, Jeff, a pot-bellied Arby’s enthusiast, sits begrudgingly for the photographer as he smokes a cigarette. Among his possessions are Bufferin for his chronic heartburn, two strips of bacon in a plastic bag, and a bottle of Pilsner.
Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles. © Nadia Lee Cohen
Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles. © Nadia Lee Cohen
The small collection of trinkets unique to each character accompanied the portraits at the exhibition. Handpicked by Cohen, the trinkets are perhaps the most integral part of the work. Her enthusiasm and genuine interest in the lives thesen items have lived shine through in her work.
Cohen brings a new meaning to these possessions we may not think twice about. She tells us, we are made up of small things, small moments that tell our stories.
Nadia Lee Cohen simply brings that to life.
