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Eileen Cooper

B. United Kingdom, 1953

Highlights

4

Eileen Cooper
1

Painted over the last two years between London and Suffolk, Eileen Cooper’s latest body of work is influenced by the landscape, folklore and atmosphere of the Suffolk coast and countryside, whilst drawing particularly on its reputation as archaeologically fertile.

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The exhibition, consisting of 11 new works on canvas, will open 22 June 2022.

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In this landmark body of work, the exchange and conflict between a woman’s life and her artistic journey is always present. The canvases reveal watery surfaces that become mirrors to reflect an economy of presence and change.

The Works

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1

Eileen Cooper

Barefoot Runaways

Oil on canvas

2

Eileen Cooper

Beyond the Wandering Moon

Oil on canvas

3

Eileen Cooper

Winter Sun

Oil on canvas

4

Eileen Cooper

The Wild Place

Oil on canvas

5

Eileen Cooper

Dream

Oil on canvas

6

Eileen Cooper

Daylight

Oil on canvas

7

Eileen Cooper

Dream Catcher

Oil on canvas

8

Eileen Cooper

The Lily Pond

Oil on canvas

9

Eileen Cooper

Follow the Blue Sky

Oil on canvas

10

Eileen Cooper

Borrowing Light

Oil on canvas

11

Eileen Cooper

Walking in Circles

Oil on canvas

12

Eileen Cooper

Take Five

2019

Oil on canvas

13

Eileen Cooper

Personal Space

2019

Oil on canvas

14

Eileen Cooper

Every Mother’s Son

2019

Oil on canvas

15

Eileen Cooper

Sentimental Mood

2019

Oil on canvas

16

Eileen Cooper

Paper Doll

2012

Oil on canvas

17

Eileen Cooper

Heaven and Earth

2012

Oil on canvas

18

Eileen Cooper

Lipstick

2019

Oil on canvas

19

Eileen Cooper

The Food of Love

2019

Oil on canvas

20

Eileen Cooper

Blue Duet

2016

Oil on canvas

21

Eileen Cooper

Run Rabbit Run

2013

Oil on canvas

22

Eileen Cooper

Float

2021

Oil on canvas

23

Eileen Cooper

Deep Water

2021

Oil on canvas

24

Eileen Cooper

Child

2019

Oil on canvas

Eileen Cooper

B. United Kingdom 1953

Eileen-Cooper-c-Malcolm-Southward-2019

B. United Kingdom 1953

Biography

Eileen Cooper makes figurative paintings that encompass themes of fertility, sexuality, motherhood, life and death. Cooper produces work from an unapologetically female perspective, often containing a strong autobiographical element. Her vision encompasses a wide emotional range, with an allegorical approach. As well as the female figure, animals and objects enter Cooper’s compositions, often playing symbolic or totemic roles. Her motif-filled imagery has often been described as magical realism, although she has cited Indian, Persian and Egyptian art as influences on her paintings. Her rich and sometimes expressionistic use of colour, as well as her use of strong and simplified line has been likened to the works of Henri Matisse and Paul Gauguin, as well as to Expressionists Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

Cooper studied at Goldsmiths School of Art from 1971 until 1974, before completing an MA in painting at the Royal College of Art in 1977. She rose to prominence as an artist in the 1980s, during which time she also held teaching posts at both St Martins School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. She became a Royal Academician in 2001 and served as Keeper of the Royal Academy between 2010 and 2017.

Cooper has been the subject of numerous publications, including Eileen Cooper: A Woman’s Skin by Meredith M Hale and Philip Lindley, and Eileen Cooper: Between the Lines by Martin Gayford. She has had numerous international exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts and Dulwich Picture Gallery, London. Cooper curated and co-ordinated the Royal Academy of Arts’ 249th annual Summer Exhibition in 2017. Her work is held in several important collections including The Arts Council Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The British Museum, London. In 2016, Cooper was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to Art and Art Education. She is an Honorary Fellow at Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge, and the Royal College of Art; and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Southampton Solent University in 2014.

On 10 September 2022, Parallel Lines: Eileen Cooper and Leicester’s Art Collection opens at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery. This major survey exhibition brings together – for the first time – works created throughout Eileen Cooper’s career presented in conversation with paintings, drawings, prints, ceramics and sculpture from Leicester Museum & Art Gallery’s permanent collection.

She lives and works in London.

Discover

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All Texts (7)

Exhibitions

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2022 Exhibition at Huxley-Parlour, Swallow Street, London. Eileen Cooper Somewhere or Other, 2022 Exhibition

Eileen Cooper: Somewhere or Other

22.6 - 16.72022

Closed

Eileen-Cooper-Personal-Space-Huxley-Parlour-Gallery

Eileen Cooper: Personal Space

7.10 - 16.112019

Closed

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