Aleesa Cohene

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Aleesa Cohene (born 1976 in Vancouver) is a Canadian visual artist based in Los Angeles. Their practice examines appropriation, ownership, and power through media arts, sculpture, and scent. They work with found materials, remixing images, sounds, and objects to create “composites”—character-like blends made from gestures, expressions, and language drawn from many performers. This approach grew into multi-channel installations where each video channel presents a different composite.

Cohene’s work has been shown in major Canadian museums such as The Power Plant, Contemporary Calgary, MacKenzie Art Gallery, and Confederation Centre Art Gallery, and has toured internationally. They have held residencies in Canada, the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and their work is in public and private collections, including Oakville Galleries. In 2021, they founded the multidisciplinary creative agency I Know You Know.

Education includes York University (Philosophy and Religion), Toronto Film School (Editorial), a 2010 fellowship at Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne with Matthias Müller, and a Master of Visual Studies from the University of Toronto (2013).

Cohene’s work often explores queer identity, race, intimacy, capitalism, and social injustice, sometimes using scent to express embodied ideas that visuals can’t capture. Notable projects include Like Like (2009), That’s Why We End (2012), I Know You Know (2014), and I Don’t Get It (2017). They have collaborated with dancers and choreographers, touring in Europe and North America, and have been involved in performances such as Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A.

Their work has been shown at festivals and venues across North America and Europe. Cohene has been longlisted for the Sobey Art Award (2010–2012) and received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council; they were finalists for the 2018 Sadakichi Award and the 2020 Barbara Hammer Grant.