Steven Cohen
(1962 - living) South Africa
Artist
Steven Cohen, ak Princess Menorah, was born in Johannesburg. He spent much of his conscripted army time in the "mad house", studied arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, and became a collage silk-screen print artist, focusing in controversial images of apartheid, childhood, anatomy and sexuality, his surreal fabrics used in fashion and furnishing.
After severe illness and incarceration in Rietfontein hospital in 1996, he became South Africa's leading and most disturbing performance artist. He was named South Africa's most significant cultural figure by the Johannesburg Star newspaper in 1998.
He resides with his lover Elu, a dancer and photographer, in Troyeville, Johannesburg.
Source: excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History, from WWII to Present Day, Routledge, London, 2001
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