About Kevin Cobb
Artist Bio
Kevin Cobb (b. 1994, Baltimore, Maryland) is a visual artist based in Harlem, New York. Working across painting and digital media, his practice explores perception, consciousness, memory, and the evolving relationship between technology and spirituality. Cobb received his MFA from Columbia University and his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in public and private collections, including the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. He lives and works in New York City with his wife and son.
Artist Statement
I play with perspective, reflection, and flatness to explore embodiment and identity, creation and imagination, illusion and truth. Most of my works featuring spherical perspective are painted from observation, but I also work extensively with 3D modeling, animation, and photogrammetry to bring a heightened sense of design and hyperreality to other works. I am devoted to finding new and broader ways of seeing the world. As science and technology fractalize traditional anthropologies, and artificial minds challenge our senses of self, originality, and agency, I seek to freshly represent how it is to be a subject in the world with a careful, scientific, and enigmatic eye.
Selected Exhibitions & CV
Selected solo exhibitions include Optic Nerve at Turley Gallery and Ekstasis at 81 Leonard Gallery, both in 2025.
Selected Press
2026 · Lara Xenia · Interview
Billionaire Birthdays and Optic Time: In Conversation with Garrett Ball and Kevin Cobb
2025 · Columbia University · Ellice Lueders
Turley Gallery Features Kevin Cobb ’23 in Solo Exhibition, ‘Optic Nerve’
2025 · Columbia University · Emily Hollander
Kevin Cobb ’23 Stands Outside Himself in Solo Exhibition ‘Ekstasis’
2025 · Albuquerque Journal
‘Hood Ornament’ at Container a well-curated selection of Black art
2023 · Boston Art Review · Jessica Shearer · Excerpt via LaiSun Keane
New Expressions of Traditional Genres at LaiSun Keane
2023 · ArtDaily · Exhibition coverage
‘What’s New In Still Life, Portrait, and Landscape’ Curated by John Yau Now on View
2023 · Hyperallergic · Elaine Velie
Columbia’s MFA Show Is an Immersive Experience
2022 · VillageOneArt · Mădălina Telea Borteș
Kevin Cobb in Columbia University Artist Conversation
Exhibition Texts & Profile
2025 · 81 Leonard Gallery · Curated by Elizabeth Skalka
Kevin Cobb: Ekstasis
2023 · Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery · Oleg Mindiak
The I Has to Travel
2023 · Fredric Snitzer Gallery · Exhibition text
Stand-outs: Selections from the Columbia MFA Program
Class of 2023 · Columbia University School of the Arts · Artist profile
Kevin Cobb
Teaching & Visiting Lectures
Columbia University School of the Arts · Teaching assistant, 2023
NYSSSA School for the Arts · Teaching assistant and counselor, 2016–2017
School of Visual Arts · Guest lecturer and critic, 2024
New York University · Guest lecturer, 2023
Commercial Practice
Alongside his fine-art practice, Kevin creates CGI, animation, illustration and design for studios, brands and cultural projects.
Contact
From the Studio
Recent posts from Instagram: studio updates, works in progress, and exhibitions.
