Cooper - Wild Noise

Maddox Gallery are delighted to present Wild Noise, a solo show by American visual artist Cooper.

“The work is me, I am painting me.” – Cooper

Throughout history, art has evolved through a myriad of movements, as artists continuously formed and transformed our culture of aesthetics. What hasn’t changed is the fact that art often carries within it a promise of beauty, a promise of a pleasant experience. Such is the work of Andrew Cooper, more widely known as Cooper. The painter reimagines the style of still life, resulting in bright, lively paintings containing ordinary subjects which he makes into extraordinary. When we look at his work, we find ourselves experiencing a festival of colours and shapes.

Cooper’s compositions are an emotive mixture of his memories and his imagination. Heavily influenced by music, Cooper’s paintings almost sing with their recurring motif of a Hi-Fi stereo. This stereo is symbolic of his childhood, when he would gather with his family on Christmas, and they would play old records and share an enjoyable time together. Cooper’s work is playful, visually stimulating and perfectly imperfect. With a dizzying element of wobbly lines, we see the evidence of the painter’s hand. We empathise with his work because it is genuine, it is human. The colours he uses compliment each other in a carefully curated tonality emanating vibrance and energy.

Art does not have to be deadly serious. It can also be fun and light-hearted. It can uplift and excite people. We feel welcome in Cooper’s funky still lives, almost as if the artist has invited us in his home. He paints the world he wants to live in – and through expanding our idea of space through linework and patterns, we see a glimpse of his joyful utopia.

STILL LIFE WITH CAMO RUG,

COOPER

“I like to reimagine the genre of still life, bringing a fresh new style to representing the beauty of nature”. – Cooper

Born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, Andrew Cooper – now more widely known as Cooper – is an American visual artist. Passionate about art from a young age, the artist created drawings in sketchbooks and at seven years old, wrote a message that would later prove prophetic in his diary, which read “I want to be an artist when I grow up”. As he grew older, the artist pursued sport, temporarily pausing his creative pursuits. Yet, on enrolling at Ball State University in Indiana, his passion for art continued to flourish, and as a result, he decided to go to art school to study graphic design.

Although primarily focussed on graphic design, Cooper took extra classes in painting and woodwork, mastering all mediums. Two weeks after graduating in 2016, the artist moved to Miami to working at a record label as a graphic designer. After staying there for a year, Cooper moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career as a freelance artist, perfecting his painting technique.

Taking inspiration from his surroundings and inspired by the colour combinations and patterns around him, the artist started creating wildflower murals and paintings that garnered the instant attention of influential brands like Puma and Mountain Dew.

In 2018, the 28-year-old artist was commissioned by the now late American rapper, Nipsey Hussle, to paint his signature wildflower design on the basketball court of the rapper’s former school, 59th Elementary in Los Angeles. Launched as part of a charitable giving campaign in partnership with multinational sportswear corporation Puma, $10,000 was donated to the school, with the refurbished court drawing national attention. Following this collaboration, Cooper has gone on to partner with several notable brands including WeTransfer and Vans.

In 2019, the artist moved back to Evansville, Indiana to allow himself to expand his practice both mentally and physically. In 2021, Cooper had his first ever solo exhibition in New York at Guy Hepner, followed by a group show at Maddox Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2022, Cooper is also set to exhibit his works in the London outposts of Maddox Gallery.