Cosima von Bonin

Cosima von Bonin (born 1962) is a German contemporary artist whose interdisciplinary practice includes sculpture, textiles, sound, film, and performance. She is known for being a political artist as well as by her humour, aquatic caricatures, and use of pop-culture characters, such as Daffy Duck.

Early life and education Cosima von Bonin was born in Mombasa, Kenya in 1962. She was raised in Austria.

Von Bonin studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg (University of Fine Arts in Hamburg), where she studied under the tutelage of Martin Kippenberger and assistant Michael Krebber. Von Bonin said that she met many important figures while in college, including Friedrich Petzel, Jutta Koether, and Diedrich Diederischsen. There, she worked at a bar, whilst also connecting with the writers Diedrich Diederichsen and Clara Drechsler, and artist Martin Kippenberger.

When von Bonin was still a student, she collaborated with Josef Strau in 1990, creating a work where von Bonin exhibited herself in a window display at a Hamburg showroom. Von Bonin has also exhibited works across a variety of venues including at parties, DJ sets, music performances and audio and video exhibitions. She has been described as bringing play and fun into her work. She has collaborated with other artists including Dirk von Lowtzow, Michael Krebber, Mark von Schlegell, Kai Althoff, Sergej Jensen

Von Bonin does not explain the meaning of her works. The works within the exhibition consisted of textiles, music, sculpture, performance, video, and painting. One of the sculptures in this exhibition is a soft sculpture Total Produce (Morality) (2010), it is a large octopus with varying and colourful patterns sat upon a just as colourful raised platform that has lights underneath. Von Bonin had included past artworks from the 2000s displayed in this exhibition. The exhibition contained a pink steel-wired cement mixer that held a drove of pink pig stuffed animals, four wooden canvases of Daffy Duck being enclosed and squashed by a black entity, an orange steel-wire cement mixer with dark blue lobster claws dangling and handcuffed to the barrel, and more. Von Bonin has been represented by the House of Gaga in Mexico City since 2019.

Exhibitions Solo

Group Year Title Institution Location Ref 1995 First Graz Fan Fest 1996 Glockengeschrei nach Deutz - das Beste aller Seiten (The Bell Screams Towards Deutz - the Best of all Sides) 1997 Home Sweet Home Deichtorhallen Hamburg Sammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin Staedelscher Museums-Verein, Frankfurt

Personal life Von Bonin lives in Cologne with her husband, Michael Krebber.