Fractured Light focuses on a key body of work by the British artist Johnnie Cooper, which was instrumental in his transformation from sculptor to painter. Throughout the 1990s, Cooper embarked on an industrious and experimental trajectory with paint and collage with a renewed dedication.
These works on paper, made by layering multiple strips of paintings, were directly inspired by a series of large assemblage works he constructed during the late 1980s, when the culmination of his work in art education brought a new found freedom. The view from a new studio in rural Worcestershire conjured fresh inspirations and instilled a fascination with the ever-changing colour, shape and light values that fractured through a nearby woodland. over the course of a day.
This book documents an important part of Cooper's oeuvre and is a must for enthusiasts of Johnnie's work or anyone who is into British Expressionism or abstract art. It accompanies an exhibition, also called Fractured Light, scheduled for spring/summer 2020 at Kendrew Barn Gallery, St John's College, Oxford University, and follows Johnnie Cooper: Sunset Strip, a major monograph on the artist in 2018, also published by Black Dog Press.
