SANDLER HUDSON GALLERY
Don Cooper
CATALOG 2024
Eyelid Movies JANUARY 20 - MARCH 2 Sandler Hudson Gallery is pleased to announce the latest body of work, Eyelid Movies, from celebrated painter, Don Cooper. Eyelid Movies is based on a concept Cooper first learned of in graduate school in the late 1960’s, implementing the idea of watching a psychedelic film on the back of one’s eyelids. It relates to methods of visualization brought about from seeing phosphenes; moving and fleeting images that appear when one’s eyes are closed or in a dark environment. The paintings in the exhibition are inspired by the concept of eyelid movies, drawn from the artist’s subconscious, resulting in something both experimental and experiential.
STATEMENT I first learned of the concept of eyelid movies in graduate school in the late sixties. Someone told me they were watching a psychedelic film on the backs of their eyelids.
The title Eyelid Movies relates to methods of visualization. An example would be the experience of seeing phosphenes, moving and fleeting images that appear when one’s eyes are closed or in a dark environment. The vagueness of these images may be difficult to bring into focus or to describe. My experience with phosphenes began in childhood. While trying to focus on the darkness, I saw in the distance what appeared to be a dark void with millions of tiny moving white dots.
The paintings in this exhibit do not try to illustrate eyelid movies, rather they were inspired by the concept. I am looking inward and trusting my subconscious. My work is both experimental and experiential. I’m looking for something I’ve never seen before, something described by its difference.
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D O N C O O P E R has lived and worked in Atlanta since 1976. He has been awarded fellowships from the Fullbright Program, SECCA 7, The Southern Arts Federation, CGR, and Awards in the Visual Arts. In 2004, Cooper was one of six Georgia artists to be included in the MOCA GA exhibition Transitions II, curated by Karen Comer Lowe. He is one of three winners of the inaugural 2007 MOCA GA Working Artist Project Grant. He was awarded the Judith Alexander Artadia Award in 2009. Solo exhibitions include Phyllis Weil Gallery, N ew York, NY; Olivier Gallery, N ational Theater, London; J Rosenthal Fine Arts, Chicago, IL; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA; Greenville County Museum, Greenville, SC; City Gallery of Contemporary Art, Raleigh, NC; Museum of Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA; Group Exhibitions include Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta
International
Airport,
Atlanta,
GA;
Museum
of Contemporary Art
of Georgia, Atlanta, GA; Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Phyllis Weil Gallery, N ew York, N Y; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL; Minneapolis Museum, Minneapolis, MN; Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, N Y; Alternative Museum, N ew York, NY; Stephen Rosenberg Gallery, N ew York, N Y; Palazzo Venezia, Rome, Italy; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA. Selected Collections include Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, GA; Bell South; Coca-Cola; Georgia Power Company; Prudential Insurance Company and Hospital Corporation of America.
EXPLORING THE ARTISTIC PROCESS The paintings in the exhibition are inspired by the concept of eyelid movies, drawn from the artist’s subconscious, resulting in something both experimental and experiential.
GET IN TOUCH 739 Trabert Ave NW, Suite B Atlanta, GA, 30318 (404)-817-3300 gallery@sandlerhudson.com www.sandlerhudson.com/
Don Cooper, Big Pink, 2023, Acrylic on Canvas, 84 x 128 in
Don Cooper, Eyelid Movies (Travels Through the Universe), 2020, Acrylic on Canvas, 75 x 126 in
Don Cooper, Other Worlds, 2020, Acrylic on panel, 40 x 46 in
Don Cooper, World Wide, 2022, Acrylic on aquaboard, 24 x 36 in
Don Cooper, EM Red Green Umber, 2023, Acrylic on Fabriano Artistico, 21 x 29 in
Don Cooper, Planets Align, 2022, Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 29 in
Don Cooper, Tilt-a-Whirl, 2022, Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 29 in
Don Cooper, Double Vision, 2022, Acrylic on Indian handmade paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Double Spheres, 2020, Acrylic on Yupo, 23 x 35 in
Don Cooper, Eyelid Movies Double Vision, 2020, Acrylic on yupo paper, 23 x 35 in
Don Cooper, Phosphenes, 2022, Acrylic on panel, 16 x 20 in
Don Cooper, Red Green Phosphenes, 2022, Acrylic on yupo, 20 x 26 in
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Don Cooper, Worlds, 2021, Acrylic on panel, 24 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Ocean, 2022, Acrylic on yupo, Acrylic on yupo, 20 x 26 in
Don Cooper, Canal, 2022, Acrylic on yupo, 20 x 26 in
Don Cooper, Sap Green Raw Sienna, 2023, Acrylic on khadi, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Maroon-Quinacridone Gold, 2023, Acrylic on Fabriano Artistico, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Sap Green: Cadmium Red Deep-Quinacridone Red, 2023, Acrylic on khadi, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Deep Violet: Cadmium Yellow Orange-Indigo Blue: Cadmium Red Light, 2023, Acrylic on arches paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Red Oxide-Anthraquinone Blue, 2022, Acrylic on arches paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Cadmium Red Deep-Unknown Green, 2021, Acrylic on khadi, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Burnt Orange-Indigo: Cadmium Red Light, 2023, Acrylic on arches paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Ultramarine Blue: Cadmium Yellow Light- Violet Oxide, 2023, Acrylic on Fabriano Artistico, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Cadmium Red Medium-Bronze Yellow, 2023, Acrylic on khadi, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Quinacridone Gold-Indigo: Cadmium Red Light, 2023, Acrylic on arches paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Quinacridone Magenta-Sap Green Indigo, 2022, Acrylic on khadi, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Unknown Blue Green: Cadmium Red Light, 2021, Acrylic on khadi, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Cadmium Red Deep-Carbon Black: Quinacridone Gold, 2022, Acrylic on arches paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Cadmium Red Deep-Sap Green: Cadmium Red Medium, 2022, Acrylic on arches paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Deep Violet: Cadmium Yellow-Orange-Indigo, Blue: Cadmium Red Light, 2023, Acrylic on arches paper, 22 x 30 in
Don Cooper, Indigo-Ultramarine, 2023, Acrylic on Fabriano Artistico, 22 x 30 in