Photography by Ryan Pfluger at The Kitchen, New york, on September 17, 2015. Groomer: Dallin James at The Wall Group.
"I'm most inspired when thrown off balance," says Yve Laris Cohen. "If I'm at ease, then something's wrong." The transgender Brooklyn artist continues to apply this mantra to his work, a jarring, immersive blend of dance, architecture, sculpture, and installation. His May 2015 show, Fine, featured a team of his collaborators discussing a piece, in a theater-style setting, that never came to fruition. The result was novel, meta, and compelling, but Cohen, who'll unveil a new solo exhibit in New York in January, still plans to revisit that initial, unrealized performance. "It may be an impasse," he says, "but it's a generative one."