COURTTNEY COOPER
Courttney Cooper creates intensely detailed maps from his physical and psychological worlds in Cincinnati, Ohio. Using everyday materials of a Bic pen and repurposed paper, Courttney methodically pieces fragments of his life experiences together. His larger drawings typically begin with one sheet of paper that grows as Courttney attaches new pieces to expand the space.
Buildings, streets, and conversations are all recorded from memory. Courttney is always celebrating Oktoberfest in his life and work where you will find references to beer, balloons, pretzels, and German culture. Each line is typically made by several pen marks that when standing back in its entirety, visually creates a wonderfully complex shimmer. More importantly, Courttney’s work illustrates a sublime moment in time where viewers are able to briefly understand something as complex as a city.
Courttney Cooper’s Cincinnati Map from 2011 was recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His solo show at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago in spring of 2016 was reviewed in artforum.com and New City. His 2-person show (with Cole Carothers) at The Cincinnati Art Museum in 2013 was reviewed in CityBeat and AEQAI. He has exhibited extensively in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area including the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Covington, KY. Cooper recently won The Wynn Newhouse Foundation Award and his work is included in a number of private and public collections including The Cincinnati Art Museum and The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. Courttney Cooper’s first solo show at Western Exhibitions, where he is represented, opened in November 2016.