André Cohnen was born in Mönchengladbach and has been living in Titz-Hasselsweiler with his wife since 2015. In between were periods spent in Düsseldorf, Heidelberg and Oxford — places that shaped him both professionally and personally, and sharpened his sensitivity to language, observation and precision.

​

Art has been part of André Cohnen’s life for many years, initially mainly through drawing and portraiture. What began as early experimentation gradually developed into a serious and sustained engagement with composition, the human figure, expression and technical precision. Cohnen taught himself many of the fundamentals of drawing before increasingly turning towards painting.

​

Since around 2021, André has worked primarily in oils. The medium suits the way he paints: it remains open, fluid and capable of change. Decisions can be reconsidered, abandoned, painted over and rediscovered. For him, this possibility of searching is essential.

​

Alongside his scientific career, Cohnen has built up a substantial body of artistic work over the past several years: numerous oil paintings, earlier works in acrylic, and hundreds of drawings and sketches. His art is not something he pursues casually, but neither does it exist in isolation from everyday life. It grows out of regular practice, close attention, and an attempt to create images that leave something unresolved — for the painter as much as for the viewer.