Peter Cochrane (b. San Diego, CA) is a multimedia artist who depicts stories of resilience and metamorphosis through the lenses of horticulture, art history, and science fiction. Working between sculptural materials such as metals and botanical matter, to digital imaging and experimental darkroom photographic techniques, he builds objects and elaborate narrative set pieces that explore fundamental questions of human existence and cosmic time.
He received his BA from San Francisco State University (2011), and his MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University (2019). His work has appeared in Headmaster, The San Francisco Chronicle, Vast Magazine, Hyperallergic, Brink, Artslant, the MoCP lecture series, the de Young Museum, the Vermont Center for Photography, the Tokyo International Photo Awards, and others. He is a recipient of the Snider Prize and has been a finalist for many awards including the Hopper Prize, the Fine Art Photography Award, the Exposure Award, and the Kodak Photo Film Award. In 2022, he was nominated for The Shpilman International Prize for Excellence in Photography. He has held several solo exhibitions nationally, and his work is in public and private collections including Capital One and the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
He is the owner of Threep, a fine art printing and photography studio based in Richmond, Virginia, and teaches at VCUArts.
UPCOMING
2024 Fine Print Program, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
2025 Back Through the Open Window, The Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
2025 Untitled Group Exhibition, Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA
2025 Untitled Exhibition, Bond Millen Gallery, Richmond, VA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 The Magician Longs to See, The Athenaeum, San Diego, CA
2021 Osiris, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2019 The Wild Beasts, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2019 The Wild Beasts, The Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
2018 Memento Vivere, Richmond, VA
2017 A Continuum, The Great Highway Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 Osiris (Installation), Incline Gallery, San Francisco, CA
EXHIBITIONS (Selection)
2024 Context 2024, Filter Photo, Juried by Sarah Kennel (Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), Chicago, IL
2024 Viewfind 12, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2024 Cabin Fever, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
2023 Art on Paper, New York, NY
2023 Washington Project for the Arts Auction, Washington DC
2023 Darkroom, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL2023 Viewfind, Page Bond Gallery
2022 Blue Hour, Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA - November 4 - December 22, 2022
2022 Beyond the Frame, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL - July 8 - October 23
2022 Spring Fever, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
2021 Darkroom, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
2021 Bloom, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2021 The Wild Beasts, Artfields, 4/23 - 5/1, 2021
2021 Viewfind 10, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2020 Represent, See.Me, [Online]
2020 Fallout, Grundwald Gallery, University of Indiana, Bloomington, ID
2019 Cabin Fever, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
2019 Medusa, permanent installation, Andytown (downtown), San Francisco, CA
2019 The Shape of Things, University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland
2019 The Shape of Things, The Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
2019 Minotaur, [Sentanyl], Walnut Creek, CA
2019 Beware of Dog, FAB Gallery, Richmond, VA
2018 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), Tokyo, Japan
2018 From Blood to Lust, Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT
2018 I Would Prefer Not To, FAB GAllery, Richmond, VA
2017 SAD, FAB Gallery, Richmond, VA
2015 The Exposure Award, Louvre Museum, Paris, France
2013 The Unknown, 1314, San Francisco, CA
2012 The Male Gaze, Cesar Chavez Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Maritime Art Collective, SUB-Mission, San Francisco, CA
2012 About the Twenty-Somethings, “Matter!” de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
2012 Headmaster magazine, issue three, contributing artist
2012 About the Twenty-Somethings, “Scholarship Award Show,” SFSU, CA
2011 Neo-Mormonism, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
2011 Objectification, “Stillwell Exhibition,” SFSU Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011 “Please Show I.D.,” Martin Wong Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 “Stillwell Exhibition,” SFSU Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
EDUCATION
MFA, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
BA Art / Art History, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
AWARDS / SCHOLARSHIPS
2022 The Shpilman International Prize for Excellence in Photography, Nominee
2021 Film Photo Award, Finalist
2020 Hopper Prize, Finalist
2020 VCUArts Adjunct Faculty Grant
2020 Fine Art Photography Award, Nominee - Conceptual Category
2019 Kodak Film Photo Award, Finalist
2019 The Hopper Prize, Finalist
2019 The Snider Prize, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Honorable Mention
2019 Honors Society Inductee
2019 Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society Inductee
2018-2019 Full Scholarship - Graduate Teaching Assistantship | VCUArts
2018 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), Winner
2017-2018 Full Scholarship - Graduate Teaching Assistantship | VCUArts
2016 ArtSlant Showcase Winner
2015 The Exposure Award - Portraiture
2011 The Sher-Right Fund Scholarship, San Francisco State University
2011 Best Multi-Media Artist, “Stillwell Exhibition,” SFSU Fine Arts Gallery
2011 Best Photographer, “Stillwell Exhibition,” SFSU Fine Arts Gallery
PUBLICATIONS / OTHER MEDIA (Selection)
2023 Peter Cochrane Interview, The Hopper Prize
2021 Film Photo Award Fall 2021 Finalists, Lenscratch
2021 Photos at Zoom: Peter Cochrane, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
2021 Artist Feature, Brink Magazine, Issue 01, 4/1
2020 VAST Magazine, “Peter Cochrane,” artist feature, August
2020 Grunwald Gallery, “Peter Cochrane,” Question / Answer, University of Indiana
2020 Photos at Zoom: Landscape and Place with Curatorial Assistant Jordan Putt, MoCP Chicago, April
2020 Focal Point Podcast: Kelli Connell and Kiba Jacobson discuss Zackary Drucker, Rhys Ernst, and Peter Cochrane, April
2019 Number, Inc. Magazine, “Interview: Peter Cochrane” with Stephanie DeMer, September
2019 Commonwealth Times, “VCUArts Celebrates 90th Anniversary,” Walter Anyanwu, May
2019 SPELGBTQ Instagram takeover, January
2018 Hyperallergic, “Emerging Artists Define Their Path” / Memento Vivere, October
2018 Artslant, “Under the Radar: Peter Cochrane,” September
2017 SFist, "20 Questions with SFist: Artist Peter Cochrane," Eve Batey, January
2016 See Me, "Peter Cochrane," November 16
2016 Artslant, "Steve Kahn's Photo-constructions,” Steve Kahn, Casemore Kirkeby
2016 Artslant, "Looking at, and Through, Photography," Ivan Iannoli at Bass & Reiner
2015 Art Business, "Osiris at Incline Gallery," October
2015 The Exposure Award, July
2015 San Francisco Chronicle, published photograph, March
2015 SFAQ, “Carrie Mae Weems: Subject & Witness,” Gallery Paula Anglim, April
2015 “LUMEN,” Cinque Mostre: Time & Again, published by The American Academy in Rome
2014 SFAQ, “Interview: Takeshi Murata and Digital Art,” May
2014 SFAQ, “Regarding the Ethics of Abstraction,” March.
2014 Darin Klein’s Box of Books, Vol. VII, “on death and,” January
2013 “Nature/Knowledge: Catherine Wagner,” San Jose Public Library, May
2013 Bomb Magazine, “The End of San Francisco?” April
2013 Holloway Magazine (Founder and Director)
2012 make/shift, feminisms in motion magazine, contributing artist
2012 Headmaster magazine, issue three, contributing artist
2011 Roll Call, SF Camerawork
EXPERIENCE
2022-Present | Board Member, 1708 Gallery (Secretary 2023-24, President 2025-26)
2023-Present | Juror, CultureWorks Arts Annual Grants Program
2020-Present | Owner, Studio Threep
2021 VCUArts | Professor, Senior Thesis (Photography)
2020 VCUArts | Professor, Senior Thesis (Photography)
2019-21 VCUArts | Professor, Intermediate Photoshop (online; self-constructed course)
2019 Lecture | The Wild Beasts at Society for Photographic Education: Double-sided
2019 VCUArts | Professor, Concepts 1
2019 VCUArts | Professor, Digital Imaging 2
2019 VCUArts | Professor, Queer Imagery (self-constructed course)
2018 VCUArts | Professor, Studio Lighting
2018 VCUArts | Guest Lecturer, Senior Thesis II
2018 Institute of Contemporary Arts, Richmond, VA | Panelist, Discussion with Cassils
2018 Institute of Contemporary Arts, Richmond, VA | Engagement Committee Member
2018 VCUArts | President, Graduate Artist Association
2018 Catherine Wagner Studio | Writer / Editor for monograph Place, History, and the Archive
2017-18 Catherine Wagner Studio | Writer / Editor
2017-2018 | VCUArts Graduate Teacher's Assistant
2017 TEDxSoMa, artist-in-residence installation, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA, June
2015-2017 Commercial Photographer / Freelance Floral Designer / Editor / Writer / Artist
2014-2016 SFAQ / NYAQ / AQ | Managing Editor, Print and Online
2012-2014 Catherine Wagner Studio | Studio Manager, Artistic Assistant, Author
2012-2014 Holloway Magazine | Founder, Editor, Communications Manager, Designer
2011 Mills College Department of Art | Lecturer
2011 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art | Exhibitions Archivist
2010 SF Camerawork | Archivist