Eileen Cooper
Somewhere or Other
June 2022
Huxley-Parlour Gallery
Extract ---
For her second solo exhibition at Huxley-Parlour, British artist Eileen Cooper will present
11 new works on canvas for her exhibition: Somewhere or Other. Whilst encompassing enduring
themes of sexuality, creativity, fertility, and relationships, the works in Somewhere or Other recognise
a darker side of Cooper’s remit by considering desire and isolation, mortality and conflict.
Painted over the last two years between London and Suffolk, this latest body of work continues
Cooper’s interest in autobiographically inflected narrative. With characteristically bold, lyrical, and
emphatic line, the works in the show are influenced by the landscape, folklore and the timeless
atmosphere of the Suffolk coast and countryside, whilst drawing particularly on its reputation as
archaeologically fertile. In Somewhere or Other, paintings suggest ancient habitats, vanished
communities, the romance and threat of the North Sea, and the timeless rituals of civilisations both
distant and present.
These paintings are charged with a sense of escape and expectation. Cooper’s figures are often
depicted as meaningfully connected with the earth, often viewing the landscape from unusual
perspectives: from within trees, or from walking level. Recurringly, figures lie on the ground: supine
or prone, their languid postures connote resting, sleeping, and dreaming. Bodies of water such as
ponds or lakes and rippled, caressing trees are present throughout the collection of works. Here,
Cooper anthropomorphises the landscape; lakes, branches, and reeds take on an enchanting
presence. In these richly narrative paintings, Cooper presents her subjects in exacting - and
sometimes precarious - tableaus, often posed in a way which suggests impending action.
The title of this body of work - from Christina Rossetti’s poem, Somewhere or Other - is fitting for a
series which delights in cryptic figures, symbol, and allegory. Present in the work, too, is a subtext
of cross-generational relationships, ageing, and inevitably mortality, as Cooper reflects on her
creative journey, her own multiple roles as a painter, a mother, and a draughtsman, and confronts new
ambitions at this stage in her career. In much of Cooper’s work, the exchange and conflict between
a woman’s life and her artistic journey is always present. In this exhibition, watery surfaces become
mirrors that reflect an economy of presence and change in this landmark body of work.
In situ
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Installation View: Eileen Cooper, Somewhere or Other.
Extract ---
For her second solo exhibition at Huxley-Parlour, British artist Eileen Cooper will present 11 new works on canvas for her exhibition: Somewhere or Other. Whilst encompassing enduring themes of sexuality, creativity, fertility, and relationships, the works in Somewhere or Other recognise a darker side of Cooper’s remit by considering desire and isolation, mortality and conflict.
Painted over the last two years between London and Suffolk, this latest body of work continues Cooper’s interest in autobiographically inflected narrative. With characteristically bold, lyrical, and emphatic line, the works in the show are influenced by the landscape, folklore and the timeless atmosphere of the Suffolk coast and countryside, whilst drawing particularly on its reputation as archaeologically fertile. In Somewhere or Other, paintings suggest ancient habitats, vanished communities, the romance and threat of the North Sea, and the timeless rituals of civilisations both distant and present.
These paintings are charged with a sense of escape and expectation. Cooper’s figures are often depicted as meaningfully connected with the earth, often viewing the landscape from unusual perspectives: from within trees, or from walking level. Recurringly, figures lie on the ground: supine or prone, their languid postures connote resting, sleeping, and dreaming. Bodies of water such as ponds or lakes and rippled, caressing trees are present throughout the collection of works. Here, Cooper anthropomorphises the landscape; lakes, branches, and reeds take on an enchanting presence. In these richly narrative paintings, Cooper presents her subjects in exacting - and sometimes precarious - tableaus, often posed in a way which suggests impending action.
The title of this body of work - from Christina Rossetti’s poem, Somewhere or Other - is fitting for a series which delights in cryptic figures, symbol, and allegory. Present in the work, too, is a subtext of cross-generational relationships, ageing, and inevitably mortality, as Cooper reflects on her creative journey, her own multiple roles as a painter, a mother, and a draughtsman, and confronts new ambitions at this stage in her career. In much of Cooper’s work, the exchange and conflict between a woman’s life and her artistic journey is always present. In this exhibition, watery surfaces become mirrors that reflect an economy of presence and change in this landmark body of work.
In situ
Installation View: Eileen Cooper, Somewhere or Other.