Cosima von Bonin (b. 1962, Mombasa, Kenya)
Born in 1962 in Mombasa, Kenya, von Bonin lives and works in Cologne. She is a conceptual sculpture and installation artist. Von Bonin uses fabric, wood, film, music, and found objects, to create scenes referencing craft and pop culture. She takes on themes of social relations, identity, and appropriation, while still incorporating humor.
Von Bonin’s first major U.S. survey, Roger and Out, opened in 2007 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Other institutional one-person exhibitions have taken place at House of Gaga, Los Angeles (2020); Marianne Boesky Gallery, Aspen (2019); CCS Bard, Hudson, New York (2018); Oakville Galleries, Ontario, Canada (2017); Sculpture Center, New York (2016); Glasgow International, Glasgow, Scotland (2016); MUMOK, Vienna, Austria (2014); Artipelag, Gustavsberg, Sweden (2013); Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis (2011); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2011); Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva (2011); Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2004); Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany (2001); Kunstverein Braunschweig, Germany (2000); and Kunsthalle St. Gallen, Switzerland (1999). In addition, von Bonin has participated in group exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Nürberg, Nürberg, Germany (2019); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2017); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, France (2014); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2009); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2009); Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne (2008); and Documenta XII, Kassel, Germany (2007), among many others.
Her work is included in many notable collections worldwide, including the Tate Britain in London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum für Neue Kunst im ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany; Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis; de la Cruz Collection, Miami; and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany.