Throughout history, art has evolved through a myriad of movements, as artists continuously formed and transformed our culture of aesthetics. What hasn’t changed is the fact that art often carries within it a promise of beauty, a promise of a pleasant experience. Such is the work of Andrew Cooper, more widely known as Cooper. The painter reimagines the style of still life, resulting in bright, lively paintings containing ordinary subjects which he makes into extraordinary. When we look at his work, we find ourselves experiencing a festival of colours and shapes.
Cooper’s compositions are an emotive mixture of his memories and his imagination. Heavily influenced by music, Cooper’s paintings almost sing with their recurring motif of a Hi-Fi stereo. This stereo is symbolic of his childhood, when he would gather with his family on Christmas, and they would play old records and share an enjoyable time together. Cooper’s work is playful, visually stimulating and perfectly imperfect. With a dizzying element of wobbly lines, we see the evidence of the painter’s hand. We empathise with his work because it is genuine, it is human. The colours he uses compliment each other nicely in a carefully curated tonality emanating vibrance and energy.
Art does not have to be deadly serious. It can also be fun and light-hearted. It can uplift and excite people. We feel welcome in Cooper’s funky still lives, almost as if the artist has invited us in his home. He paints the world he wants to live in – and through expanding our idea of space through linework and patterns, we see a glimpse of his joyful utopia.
“The work is me, I am painting me.” – Cooper
