Artist Raphaele Cohen-Bacry’s installation titled “House of Cards” will be on display at the Adams Square Mini Park Gas Station, 1020 E. Palmer Ave. in Glendale through Friday, Aug. 18. “House of Cards” consists of vividly colored collages on playing cards of various sizes hanging from the ceiling at different heights. By using art magazines and wallpaper in her collages, Cohen-Bacry transforms a familiar object and elevates it to a unique piece of art. The familiarity of playing cards in her installation allows viewers to easily relate to and feel a connection with the artwork.

Born and raised in Paris, France, Cohen-Bacry was attracted to drawing, painting, and “making things” from an early age. She studied painting and engraving in various schools in France while completing her doctorate in pharmacology and a degree in performing arts at l’Ecole de la Rue Blanche in Paris. Cohen-Bacry considers art as a personal quest and her studio as a laboratory where she conducts experiments to create images that do not exist in the real world. Her style is deeply rooted in art history, but also very relevant to the current era. She was influenced by movements such as CoBrA and Lyrical abstraction (or Tachisme) as they leave room for intuition and non-premeditation. She exhibits her artwork nationally and internationally in alternative spaces and professional galleries, in addition to selling her work to corporations, hospitals, etc. 

“House of Cards” stems from the idea that playing cards are deeply embedded in our psyche. They influence the way we think about things, resulting in the endless number of idioms related to cards, such as “playing one’s cards right” and “having an ace up one’s sleeve.” Here, Cohen-Bacry is playing with cards, but in a very different fashion.

To learn more about Cohen-Bacry’s work, visit www.raphaelecohenbacry.com or follow her on Instagram @raphaelecohenbacrystudio.