Biography
Elena Von Kohn
Born in Germany and later educated in Moscow, Elena Von Kohn picked up her first paintbrush in Leipzig, Germany at the age of three. Even at that young age, Von Kohn recalls an immediate connection to painting in the liminal space between the conscious and unconscious. Her early interest in painting led her family to Moscow where she studied at the Moscow Art School for Gifted Children, and later the Moscow State Pedagogical University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a
Masters of Fine Arts degree.
In the years following her graduation, Von Kohn participated in numerous exhibitions, most notably the Young Artists Annual Show in 1990, and the Young Talents Juried show in 1991, both in the Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow, as well as a solo exhibition titled From Russia With Love, in Ruce Bulgaria. Those exhibitions led to such notable awards as the prestigious Moscow Artist of the Year award, the Bulgarian International Artist Award,
and the Russian Art Ambassador Award, respectively.
After moving to the United States in the mid-90s, Von Kohn accelerated her studio practice with exhibitions across the country, including solo and group exhibitions in Montgomery, Alabama, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Naples Florida, and Scottsdale, Arizona where she currently lives and works.
Von Kohn’s work appears in public and private collections including the West Valley Art Museum in Surprise, Arizona, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, the International University of Peoples Medicine in Moscow, AM South Bank, Regions Bank Corporate Collection, both in Alabama, and the
Russian Consulate in Ruce, Bulgaria, among others.
Von Kohn’s most recent exhibition was The Age of Diversity, a solo exhibition at Gallery De Sarthe, in Scottsdale Arizona. The artist is currently completing a residency at the Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning house in Sedona, Arizona, and is the first painter to create work in the female Surrealist painter’s studio, continuing a legacy of important contributions to
the movement that Tanning was such an integral part of.
Artist Statement
My paintings are a reflection of the surreal state of our world. I combine images of reality with enigmatic elements of abstraction to explore the hidden depths of the human experience. My paintings break down the boundaries between what is real and what is not, creating works of art that invoke a sense of mystery, contemplation, and the unexpected. In my paintings I hint at the unknown, inviting further exploration from the viewer. When painting nude figures in my work, I not only celebrate the human body, but those bodies also symbolize free will and self-expression.
There are hidden messages in each painting to discover and interpret. Art has the power to expand our perspectives, open our minds, and provoke our thoughts along the journey of discovery.
CV
ELENA VON KOHN
Lives and works in Scottsdale, Arizona
EDUCATION
1981 Moscow Art School for Gifted Children, Moscow
1985 Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Degree, Moscow State Pedagogical University, Moscow
1990 Masters of Fine Arts, Summa Cum Laude, Moscow University, Moscow, Russia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Dancing with Gravity, The Review Gallery, Mesa A
2023 EVK Gallery 33, Santa Monica, CA
2023 Elena Von Kohn: Dancing With Gravity, Gallery De Sarthe, Scottsdale, AZ
2018 City and Me, Art Gallery Plus, Moscow, Russia
2014 New Works, Art Gallery Plus, Moscow, Russia
2009 Far and Away, John Di Tommaso Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ 2008 Impressions, West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ 2007 Passions of Colors, Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, AL
2005 Small Masterpieces, Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, AL
2004 Forces of Nature, M. Phillips Fine Art Gallery, Las Cruces, NM
2004 New Paintings, Naples Contemporary Gallery, Naples, Florida
2004 New Paintings by Elena Von Kohn, Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, AL
2003 Presentation, Northern Trust Bank, Scottsdale, AZ
2001 Spring Annual Art Show, Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, AL
1998 New Artworks, Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, AL
1994 New Paintings, Troy State University, Montgomery, AL
1993 Journey, Montgomery Language Center, Montgomery, AL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2004 Oil Painters of America, Chicago, IL
2001 Spring Annual Art Show, Stonehenge Art Gallery, Montgomery, AL
2000 Tradition Exhibition and Auction, Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum, Scottsdale, AZ
1999 Rotary Club Charity Art Exhibition & Auction, Montgomery, AL
1997 Annual Art Exhibition, American Academy of Women Artists
1996 Fall Showcase of Landscape Artists, Stonehenge Art Gallery
1995 International Artist Juried Exhibition, Business Center of Alabama
1995 Annual Juried Art Guild Show, First Alabama Bank, Montgomery, AL
1994 Impressionists of Montgomery, AL
1994 Troy State University, Montgomery, AL
1994 Annual Juried Art Guild Show, First Alabama Bank, Montgomery, AL
1993, Annual Juried Art Guild Show, First Alabama Bank, Montgomery, AL
1993 Ivy Gate Well Amistad Gallery, Montgomery, AL
1991, Young Talents Juried Exhibition, Central Exhibition Hall of the Young Artists, Union, Moscow, Russia
1990, Young Artists Annual Show, Central Exhibition Hall of the Young Artists Union, Moscow, Russia
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2022 Cryptonews.com, December.
2022, Yahoo.com, December.
2022 “Mesmerizing” New Elena Van Kohn Collection Lands on Opensea, Taking NFT
Art up a Level,” Cision PR Newswire, November 28.
2008 Arizona Republic Magazine, February.
2006 Scottsdale Independent Newspaper, April.
2006 West Valley View Newspaper, February.
2005 Scottsdale Republic Magazine, May 27.
2005 American Artist Magazine, March.
2005 Plein Air Art Magazine, January.
2004, 101 North Magazine, July.
2003, October 23, Arizona Republic Magazine, AZ
2003, September 7, Arizona Republic Magazine, AZ
2003, July/August, Art of The West Magazine
2002, January, Southwest Art Magazine,
2001, January/February Art of The West Magazine
2000, November, Art and Antiques Magazine
2000, September, Southwest Art Magazine
1999, November, Business Art Owners Magazine
1999, October 31, Montgomery Advertiser Magazine
1998, November 5, Montgomery Independent Magazine
1998, May, Montgomery Advertiser Magazine, AL
1997, November 13, Montgomery Independent, AL
1997, November 6, Montgomery Advertiser Magazine, Montgomery
1997, July 10, Montgomery Independent, AL
1997, June 26, 1997, Montgomery Independent, AL
1996, September 26, Evergreen Constant, AL
1996, February 4, Montgomery Advertiser Magazine
1996, January 14, Montgomery Advertiser Magazine
1996, January 12, Montgomery Advertiser Magazine
1996 January 7, Montgomery Advertiser Magazine
1995, December 17, Montgomery Advertiser, AL
AWARDS
1999 Art for Business Award, Mongomery AL
2006, 2014, 2019, Nominee, Governor’s Award in Arts, Arizona
1995 Honorable Mention, Selma Juried Art Guild, Selma, AL
1992 First prize, Maxwell Air Force Base, juried exhibition, Maxwell AFB, AL
RESIDENCIES
2023, Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning House, Sedona, AZ
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ
Russian Consulate, Ruce, Bulgaria
Corporate Art Collection, AM South Bank, AL
International University of Peoples Medicine, Moscow, Russia
Baptist Health Care, Montgomery, AL
Troy State University, Montgomery, AL
Corporate Collection, Regions Bank, AL
Capital City Art Club Collection, Montgomery, AL