Graphite and aluminum are not mediums normally associated withartwork, but those are exactly the preferred mediums of UnitedKingdom artist Christopher Cook.
Cook's work, on exhibit at the Art Museum of The University ofMemphis, is titled Christopher Cook: Against The Grain. He paints,draws and sprays primer-coated aluminum sheets with graphite, oil,resin and solvents, and his work has been the subject of nationaland international exhibits.
During his 'Year of the Artist' residency at the Eden Project,in Cornwall County, England, he initiated a series of experimentalgraphite works painted and drawn onto coated aluminum sheet. TheEden Project, which took its name from the Biblical garden ofparadise, is a massive park that focuses on man's relationship withplants. The project has biomes which house more than 100,000 plantsfrom different climates. Cook's piece, "Chain of Circumstance," hasEden symbology with a snakeskin texture and a snakelike coil.Science, architecture and the arts are combined at the Edenproject.
Cook uses imagery and philosophy from the research at Eden.Ideas in genetics, Earth's variety of organisms and post-industriallandscapes are thematic in his work. Nature and man's place in thenatural world are important to Cook, who said he also exploresman's tendency to corrupt nature.
"We're not as attuned to nature as we could be," Cook said.
From 1995 to 1997 he taught and did research in India. Thecolors in India changed his processes as an artist.
"The color hues in India were so different -- they underminedwhat I was doing with color. I didn't know I would abandon colorfor good," Cook said.
You won't find color in Cook's work, but the graphites play wellwith light creating sparkling grainy textures. He is intenselyinvolved in the process of his work, and black and white simplifieshis work. Cook compared the sacrifice of color to the humansenses.
If your sight is bad or lost, your other senses compensate forit. In that sense, the lack of color makes the viewer focus on thework differently. The pieces are similar to old photos, negativesor print making. This effect entices the viewer to look closely atany indistinct and abstract images in his work.
The nature of Cook's mediums force him to work on the piece laidout on the floor. He doesn't back away from the pieces to observehow they are coming together until the following day. There aremany failures, he said, but he just wipes off the aluminum andstarts again.
"I don't cheat," Cook said of his process. "There's a momentwhen the process fuses to become an image. I look at it the nextday."
Cook's interest in linguistics not only influences his process,but it also stimulates poetry and writings that are also includedin the exhibit. There's a narrative content as well as what you seeon the surface. Cook's work has been described as surreal, and hefeels the process is based in surrealism.
Some of his Cook's work is political in nature. His piece,"Panoptican," has a centerpiece resembling a disco ball anddemolition ball at the same time. Each facet of the ball appears tohave all seeing eyes, and planes circle the ball above what hedescribed as an Iraq-like cityscape. The piece is aboutsurveillance and demolition in modern times.
Cook spent a portion of his trip here working with U of Mstudents. For a week, student Carolyn Bomar said he spent six hoursa day with students "playing on intuitives in nature" and workingwith them on signs, word association, science, nature and poetry inart. She described him as being open and patient with thestudents.
"Physical science in art is very difficult to understand," shesaid.
Cook was also pleased to work with the students and said it wasimportant to him.
"I interacted with the place instead of just dropping images init," he said.
Christopher Cook studied at the University of Exeter and theRoyal College of Art London. His exhibit will be on display untilApril 17.
