Barnett Cohen is a New York-based visual artist and choreographer whose work proposes a kaleidoscopic queer surrealism. Their performances fracture linear time, gender identity, and sexuality through precise yet disjointed forms, bodily shapes, and calls for subversive political action. Cohen has presented work at the Venice Biennale 2026, Amant, Canal Projects as part of Performa 2023, The Centre Wallonie Bruxelles as part of Performissima, Kunsthall Trondheim, Judson Memorial Church, RECESS, The Exponential Festival, The Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, REDCAT, Rupert, and the International Center of Photography, among others. 

In 2021, Open Space/SFMOMA published a collection of their poems alongside those of artist and collaborator Simone Forti. Cohen has been in-residence at Pioneer Works, Skowhegan, MacDowell, and Callie’s, and is grant recipient from The Foundation For Contemporary Arts. Their performance ERROR CONTAINER premieres at Sophiensæle, Berlin in December 2026. Reviews and features include BOMB, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Artforum, Cultured, The Financial Times, and more. In 2017, Cohen founded the Mutual Aid Immigration Network (MAIN), a trilingual free assistance hotline for people detained across US immigration detention centers with bond funds and legal services.

As of June 2026