Artist on the Rise: Painter Dominick Cocozza - Inside Art with Michael Rose

Artist on the Rise: Painter Dominick Cocozza - Inside Art with Michael Rose

 

Artist Dominick Cocozza is something of a prodigy. He has already exhibited work at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall, has given a lecture on Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole at the National Gallery of Art, and has been a featured artist in the United States Capitol. These would be impressive accomplishments for any artist, but Cocozza achieved all three as a teenager. A recent RISD grad who has set up a studio in Providence, Cocozza is an emerging artist with a huge amount of talent and an exciting career on the horizon.

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Cocozza was born in Guatemala and, after being adopted, was raised outside Washington, DC. He came to Providence for college and earned his BFA in Painting in the spring. While at RISD, he studied and exhibited in Rome and received the Florence Leif Award. In 2024, he was a resident at the Vermont Studio Center, where he produced one of the large paintings that now adorns his Providence studio. He has already exhibited work in more than fifteen exhibitions and has been interviewed about his work on CNN and the BBC. Energetically and passionately, he is creating a rich artistic practice for himself and making work that impresses.

 

 

Cocozza recently moved into a bright new studio at Aunty’s House, a community arts venue in a repurposed industrial building in the Valley District. In the space, Cocozza has in-progress and completed paintings on display. A thickly incrusted palette is awash with vibrant oil colors. Tiny beads are mixed in with paints to add rich texture to the surfaces of his paintings.

 

Asked about what being a part of this studio community means to his practice, Cocozza says, “I am thrilled to have moved into my new Providence studio at Aunty’s House this fall and have the opportunity to engage with the city in an entirely new way. It means a great deal to me to be part of founder Lilly Manycolor’s vision for the studio kinship collective by helping nurture an accessible multigenerational arts education platform and safe space prioritizing the local Providence community. We are scheduling 2025 programming highlighting the kinship studio members and community space that will manifest itself in artist-led workshops, group exhibits, open studios, and collaboration events.”

 

 

Cocozza is a gifted painter who focuses primarily on representational imagery that takes Guatemalan dolls as a central focus. In Cocozza’s paintings, these dolls are not static objects but active figures that represent various individuals in the artist’s life, including himself. They are autobiographical, probing, and multilayered.

 

Asked what he hopes viewers experience when looking at his work, Cocozza outlines the focus of his artmaking, saying, “My paintings are guided by the possibilities of the Guatemalan worry doll that embodies my transracial adoption from Guatemala in 2002 and Maya Tz’utujil identity. The figures I paint become avatars representative of myself and my partner, who is Indigenous Mexican-American. I hope that my paintings can resonate with a wide variety of folks who connect with Guatemala and Central American culture. Hence, as an Indigenous-Latinx maker who does not speak Spanish, I greatly value painting as an opportunity to connect and converse with these communities that are kin to my homeland.”

 

 

Looking at Cocozza’s paintings, there is much to appreciate. He is a skilled technician and colorist, but is also sharing personal experiences that are of interest to a wide audience and touch on themes that resonate with many. In his art he shares stories and invites onlookers into his own life.

 

Looking forward, Cocozza has some exciting current and upcoming projects. Describing them, he says, “I am excited to share that one of my paintings was recently installed and is on a one-year loan in the RISD Admissions building collection after coming down from the Gelman Gallery’s New Contemporaries show this past summer at the RISD Museum. Looking forward to December, I will be headed to the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton, New York, for an artist residency at Ma’s House led by Shinnecock artist Jeremy Dennis. I’m honored to be a guest of the nation and will lead one public program during my stay by engaging with the Indigenous and local communities present.”

 

 

Dominick Cocozza is a young painter of exceptional promise, and it is exciting that he has chosen to open his own studio in Providence, at least for the time being. It is important for Rhode Islanders to encourage, support, and patronize artists like Cocozza. His work adds vibrancy and excitement to the local art scene, while he is also engaged in opportunities farther afield, all while making and exhibiting compelling contemporary paintings.

 

Learn more about Dominick Cocozza at www.dcocozzastudios.com or follow the artist on Instagram at @dcocozzastudios.