Selected dates:

1953

Born in the village of Krasnopolye in the Mogilev region (BSSR, now the Republic of Belarus). He received his first drawing lessons from his grandfather, an artist who studied in Vitebsk with Marc Chagall and graduated from the Art Academy in Odessa.

1968

He graduated from art school in Kazan and moved to Moscow.

1971-1976

Studying at the Institute of Electronic Engineering (Faculty of Physics and Chemistry), Moscow, Russia.

1977-1983

Studied at the Moscow Printing Institute (graphics department), Russia (now the Ivan Fedorov Moscow State University of Printing Arts).

Since 1983

Participates in exhibition projects in Moscow and the USSR.

Since 1987

Member of the Moscow Union of Artists.

1987

Joined the Hermitage artists' association.

1987

He began exhibiting abroad.

1988

Became a member of the Moscow "Group 88".

1990

At the invitation of the Hans Mayer Gallery (Galerie Hans Mayer, Dusseldorf), he began working in Germany. Since then, he has lived in Cologne and Moscow.

1993

Created the installation "Wall" at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, which was the first installation ever exhibited there.

1995

Became a central figure in one of Europe's biggest intellectual property debates. Famed photographer Helmut Newton tried to sue Cohen over his painting "The Power of Blue", accusing him of plagiarizing his subject. Despite Newton's worldwide fame, Cohen won the case, making copyright history as the first case to address the issue of copyright and a postmodern artist's right to artistic appropriation.

1997

The artist has made a significant innovation in his art by developing "digital painting" conceived on a computer screen. In an exhibition entitled "Simply Virtual" at the Mannheimer Kunstverein, he presented a series of paintings with computerized frames, which he had been working on for two years.

1997

Began his first major photographic project. Armed with a camera and his painting "Single Mona Lisa 1:1 (Yellow)", he made a series of trips around Russian cities and rural areas, taking photographs and confronting his Mona Lisa with the reality of everyday life in Russia. The first exhibition "Mona Lisa in Russia" was held at the Guelman Gallery in Moscow that same year.

2004

Personal exhibition "Journeys of Mona Lisa", State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

2005

One of his paintings was exhibited on board the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev brought to the ISS a transparent crystal, inside which was enclosed a silicon chip measuring 3 by 5 micrometers - another image of the "Single Mona Lisa 1:1". It remained on the ISS, and at the moment "Mona Lisa in Microcosm" continues its eternal flight through the large "Macrocosm".

2005

After returning to Earth, "Mona Lisa Goes to Space" became one of the main attractions of the 51st Venice Biennale.

2005

Participant of the world exhibition EXPO 2005.

2005

Participant of the 1st Moscow Biennale.

2007

Participant of the 2nd Moscow Biennale.

2007

The retrospective project "Who's Afraid" was presented at the Museum of Modern Art in Moscow. The exhibition "Who's Afraid" demonstrated a new aspect in Cohen's work, for which the artist came up with the name "digital abstraction".

2007

Solo exhibition Mona Lisa and the Black Square, Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch, Germany.

2007

Solo exhibition Who is Afraid, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow.

2008

Was nominated for the Kandinsky Prize.

2008

Solo exhibition La Condition Humaine (1:1), Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany.

2013

The artist presented his series of paintings and interactive media installations at the Ludwig Museum in Koblenz and the Museum of Modern Art in Moscow.

2015

Large-scale exhibition "Out of Focus" held at Deutsche Bank in Cologne.