Cosima von Bonin was born in 1962 in Mombasa, Kenya. She came of age in Cologne during the 1980s where she was part of the booming art scene; she still lives and works in the city. Most well-known for her sculptures and installations created from fabric and readymades, she often uses comedy and pop culture to question social constructions and relations.

In 2024, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and Mudam Luxembourg opened majors exhibition of her work. In 2022, her installation on the façade of the Giardini’s Central Pavilion welcomed visitors to the Cecilia Alemani-organized The Milk of Dreams at the 59th Venice Biennale. She has also participated in Skulptur Projekte Münster (2017), Glasgow International (2016), and Documenta (2007 & 1982). One-person exhibitions have taken place at CCS Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany; Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri; Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam; Kunstverein in Hamburg; Magasin III Jaffa, Tel Aviv; mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and SculptureCenter, Long Island City, New York, among others.

In 2016, Thomas Borgmann donated over a dozen major works by von Bonin including panels, sculptures, a room-sized installation as part of his gift to the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam – the second largest in the institution’s history. Her work is also a part of the Boros Collection, Berlin; Bundeskunstsammlung, Germany; Dallas Museum of Art; Deichtorhallen Hamburg; Metropolitan Museum, New York; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and Museum of Modern Art, New York, among others.