Alan Cooper: Artwork on View
As the grass court season at CourtX comes to a close we want to celebrate what an amazing Summer we’ve had and what better way than to exhibit landscape paintings by Alan Cooper which strikingly resemble our surroundings here at CourtX, and bring to our Pavilion another series of artwork as a part of CourtX’s Rotate initiative.
Alan Cooper has been a working graphic designer for over 30 years, now choosing to concentrate more on his art, producing paintings that explore the relationship between colours and perspectives, developing the area between figuration and abstraction. Speaking on this time Alan states “I feel like I am currently on an extended foundation course exploring different media and subjects!”
Raised, and living in the New Forest, Hampshire, Alan confesses the surrounding physical environment isn’t a strong influence. From an early age Alan was always drawing and copying favourite cartoons and illustrations from comics and books. Carrying on with art lessons through college, and developing a keen interest in Graphics leading Alan to find artistic influences in works of Richard Diebenkorn and David Hockney.
Allowing himself more time to spend on his work, Alan is excited to see what develops, with some work being planned and others random. For Alan, there is excitement in mixing up the ideas to try and get something original out of it. Doing this by exploring acrylics, oils and watercolours to find out the best media for the type of style he’s involved in at any one time. For the moment Alan’s style is semi-abstract, with the idea of moving towards abstract expressionism.
The series of work on display at CourtX are inspired by Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park series. Alan’s series of paintings can be viewed as abstract but the inclusion of the palm tree icon in some of the paintings gives a hint of representation. The pictures try and combine an overhead view as well as a front-on view.
For this series of paintings Alan designs on his iMac until happy with the composition and the colours. Then the work is scaled up to the canvas and the image is painted. Quite often Alan will develop it further in the process of the painting, sharing that “it never ends up as exactly as the computer image which is half the fun.”
On asking Alan what his most important artist tool is he replies “apart from the obvious paint, brushes, paper towels and canvas, I would say a straight edge and masking tape!”
In this series of work colour plays a vital role. The computer is a very useful tool as it allows Alan to try out different colour combinations before committing to canvas. However for other abstract work Alan prefers to develop the painting on the canvas. More recently acrylic has become a favourite medium for Alan as it’s quick drying, odourless and suits some of the work Alan is producing, exploring oils and watercolour in between. Looking ahead to what’s next Alan will be trying out new works with different media. Sharing that some of his next paintings include figures in a semi-abstract and colourful style.
Alan Cooper’s artwork will be on view on the first floor of the CourtX pavilion until mid November. The exhibition is open and free to all. Our bar facilities are open to visitors.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Artwork Enquiries - alan@alancooperpaintings.com
Artist Enquiries - info@finelineart.com
