Tom Cocotos did not speak until he was five and found himself instead tearing and cutting up magazine pages, deconstructing and then reconstructing the text and images into something totally new which he would use to communicate with his family.  There was also a love of numbers and the beauty of mathematics.  This led to Columbia University for an engineering degree, before returning to the School of Visual Arts for an MFA.

Today Tom is an artist based in New York City.  He works figuratively in collage on paper and linen.  The work is miniature to large scale, 2” – 15’.  Like an urban archaeologist, he uses found materials—the detritus from everyday life—everything from tissue boxes and candy wrappers to prints of fine art and billboard posters sourced from multiple international cities.  The problem solving of making trash into something beautiful, adds complexity and richness.  The subject matter is wide ranging, from power dynamics, to portraiture, to nature (including flies choreographed by Busby Berkeley), and more.  His technique is more related to painting and line drawing then assemblage.  The cut and torn paper becomes paint and line, draftsmanship a priority.  The work is very minimal, incorporating a lot of white space and the use of a limited palette. 

Residencies and one-person exhibitions have brought him to Berlin, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Athens, Los Angeles and Miami.  Cocotos has lectured at the School of Visual Arts, Parsons, Fashion Institute of Technology, Ringling College, Oolite Arts, and PANAL 361.  His work has been commissioned and is held by Citibank, Ford Motors, American Airlines, Miami Children’s Museum, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and significant private collections such as the Len and Louise Riggio collection.  His images have appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and Playboy.