Roger Kohn

Roger Kohn
Designer and Author, Roger Kohn at home with Chingachgook
Born	1951 York United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Occupation	Designer, author
Spouse(s)	Karen Kohn
Website	Roger Kohn

Roger Kohn is a designer and author. He studied with Rowan Gillespie at York School of Art and is the Irish sculptor's biographer.

Kohn was educated at Marton Hall Preparatory School and Pocklington School. After a year at York School of Art, he gained a first class honours degree in Graphic Design at Chelsea School of Art along with among others, Edward Bell (artist). At Chelsea, Kohn was taught by Edward Wright, Dennis Bailey and Susan Einzig and became friends with part-time tutor, the Scottish surrealist poet and musician Ivor Cutler. Cutler's influence on Kohn was a subtle one, but can be seen in his art. In the words of the artist himself:

In the early 1970s, when space travel and moon landings were very much in the news, Ivor was ahead of the time with his extraordinary eye for detail. He encouraged me to think small and push the boundaries of perception by exploring the minutiae of the minuscule, celebrating the precious details of our planet along the way.

Kohn travelled extensively in Latin America (once declining a request from MI6 to return to Argentina on their behalf). He worked initially with the Diagram Group, a London-based cooperative group of designers (which included the brilliant avant-garde composer and musician, Cornelius Cardew), writers, artists and editors, led by Bruce Robertson and Bob Chapman, supplying visualised information to publishers in Britain and the United States; and was Art Editor on the definitive encyclopedia Musical Instruments of the World., which featured in Eduardo Paolozzi's 1985 "Lost Magic Kingdoms" exhibition at the Museum of Mankind in London. After a brief spell at the Hamlyn Publishing Group he became Art Editor at Octopus Books. In 1983 he left to set up his own design business and to pursue his interest in art and photography, visiting over 60 countries and establishing an extensive photographic library. Besides Ivor Cutler the influences on Kohn's writing and art are diverse: