COOPER: A CLOSER LOOK
With ‘A Closer Look’, his most ambitious solo exhibition with Maddox yet, Cooper unveils the results of his six-month Artist in Residence programme at our Shepherd Market gallery.
An unprecedented opportunity to discover and spend time with the American artist during the most productive period of his life, more than 50 hyper-vivid, autobiographical paintings reveal a painter who is intent on reinvigorating the traditional genre of still life for a contemporary audience.
This highly personal show explores Cooper’s signature use of colour and pattern through a fresh, new lens, inspired by his time in London. When the British painter and great colourist David Hockney relocated from Bradford to Beverley Hills, it resulted in an iconic body of work that was suffused with light. Similarly, Cooper’s move from Evansville, Indiana, to England has subconsciously filtered into his paintings. His signature leitmotifs—vintage record players, speakers, plants and books—sit side by side with rich colours and Victorian-esque patterns that are heavily influenced by half a year of enjoying and working in London.
Like Hockney, Cooper is inspired by the endless beauty of nature. Surrounding himself with plants and flowers brings him happiness every day. “The more you look at something, the more beautiful it becomes,” says the artist, whose paintings celebrate simple yet profound joys like the markings on a leaf or the blousy charm of a flower. “I paint what’s around me, and I’ve found so much new inspiration in London,” he continues. “I can see the evolution in my works and pinpoint exactly where I was when I created each work.”
Showing at our Berkeley Street gallery for the first time, the bigger space has enabled Cooper to create work on a larger scale than ever before, with a 15ft painting dominating one wall of the gallery. Also included in the show are a series of floral still lifes, their colours popping and blooming across not only the canvases but the gallery itself, playfully inviting the audience to explore Cooper’s world in London.
In an exciting twist of fate, after his month-long show on Berkeley Street, Cooper will be participating in his first group exhibition, ‘GREENHOUSE: Houseplants in Contemporary Art’, at the Torrance Art Museum in California. Showing alongside artists like Jonas Wood who helped him find his signature style at the very beginning of his career, this curatorial acknowledgement is another sign that Cooper’s star is firmly on the rise.
“At least twice a week, I have stopped by to visit Cooper and chat about his work,” says Maeve Doyle, Artistic Director at Maddox. “It has been such a pleasure to watch him embrace the opportunity to learn, absorb and grow, surrounded by so much culture, history and world-class art. ‘A Closer Look’ promises to be another sell-out success for this talented, young artist whose works radiate energy and positivity.”
