Nigel Cooke is known for his evocative paintings which blend personal memories with art historical influences. Executed with an array of techniques and applications of paint, Cooke's gestural compositions consist of a hive of fluid and frenzied brushstrokes that appear at first as total abstractions. Upon closer inspection figurative details start to appear: a loose outline of a head, a sweep of an eyelash or a curve of a lip. The figures that appear are not portraits of individuals but hybrids of many — combinations of found photographs, observation, and invention.
NIGEL COOKE (British, 1973)
Acrylic on cotton blotting paper
141 x 105.4 x 5.4cm
Acquired in 2019
