Claudia Coca: El origen del mundo: 225 West 17th Street, New York

Ethan Cohen Gallery is pleased to present El origen del mundo, its second solo exhibition of leading Peruvian artist Claudia Coca. Coca’s work provokes critical reflection on contemporary political and cultural issues surrounding colonialism, race, gender, and citizenship. This exhibition is presented concurrently with her first solo museum exhibition Claudia Coca | La piel de mi trino: 25 años y más at the ICPNA in Lima, Peru.

Through her work, Coca reconfigures the historical relationship between indigenous peoples and nature, making visible the intrinsic connection these cultures have maintained with their environment since ancestral times, while challenging the colonial perspective that frames them as part of a "natural" world to be conquered. The figures Coca presents are not merely symbols of the wild; they stand as full-fledged subjects, endowed with resilience and profound knowledge of the land. By rendering these silhouettes with such monumentality, Coca reclaims the Indigenous figure not as a mere echo of the past but as an active subject—one that has been, and continues to be, at the heart of environmental and social struggles, resisting colonial narratives and proposing new ways of understanding the relationship between humanity and nature.

About Claudia Coca:

Born in 1972, Lima, Peru. Lives and works in Lima, Peru

Claudia Coca is a Peruvian artist whose work provokes critical reflection on contemporary political and cultural issues surrounding colonialism, race, gender, and citizenship. Coca’s artistic practice reflects on age-old colonial strategies of portraying colonized peoples as “barbarians” or “exotic”. Utilizing visual images and the written word, she subverts the imaginarium of dispossession relating to the wild, the perceived ugly, and the besmirched. The objective of her work is to catalyze the abandonment of colonial concepts and catalyze reconciliation with the historical representation of indigenous peoples, with the otherized body and geography.

About Ethan Cohen Gallery:

Ethan Cohen Gallery is a curatorial force in global contemporary art, known for championing both emerging and established voices across continents. With a foundation in post-war contemporary, the gallery has earned international recognition for its early and sustained support of Chinese Avant-Garde artists, as well as its forward-thinking embrace of emerging talent and contemporary African art. Ethan Cohen’s eye for the extraordinary has helped launch the careers of artists who are now widely celebrated, while continuing to introduce collectors and institutions to the most compelling new voices of each generation. As noted in Slant Magazine, Ethan Cohen has been called “one of the most influential art dealers in the world.”

Founded in 1987 as Art Waves/Ethan Cohen in SoHo, the gallery was among the first to present Chinese experimental art to the U.S. audience. Today, Ethan Cohen Gallery operates from two locations in Chelsea, NYC and The KuBe Art Center in Beacon, New York—a 123,000 square foot interdisciplinary hub for exhibitions, performance, and artistic dialogue. The gallery also maintains a strong global presence through participation in major international art fairs. Across all platforms, Ethan Cohen Gallery curates museum-quality shows, nurtures cross-cultural dialogue, and remains committed to discovering and amplifying radical, relevant, and resonant art.

Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 6pm.

Press Contacts:

Lara Kamhi: lara@ecfa.com

Isaac Aden: isaac@ecfa.com