| Emma Coop lives and works in London. Born in 1976, Manchester, she undertook her BA in Interactive Arts at MMU before going on to complete a PG Dip and MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art. Recent major exhibitions include: Creekside Open 2019, Wales Contemporary 2020, Expanded Drawing—Air Gallery in 2020 and 168th RWA Open 2021. Her work is held in private collections in the UK, France, Germany and USA. ARTIST STATEMENT I explore an affinity with nature and the elements despite living in cities all my life. My drawings document a desire to run in the opposite direction, to escape edges, things and people. Such an ‘escape’ could be experienced via sailing in a small single-handed boat around a dock off the Thames with the thrill-threat of capsize, or getting into nature and following hidden passage ways through woodland to find den-like secret places that may hold secrets, or may not. There is a restlessness in the work, a drive to create by tenacity which builds a mounting tension akin to an Antonioni film—imagine the amplified sound of the wind whilst the camera forensically roves over grainy black and white landscapes to build suspense from ‘nothing’ such as in Blow Up and L’Aventura. I draw because of its immediacy: there is a very quick direct link with the act of making that takes me right back to being a child. I use big chunky graphite sticks and the mark-making is gestural and physical. Drawn marks range from very considered light and delicate right through to dense heavily-layered scrawls; in this way each drawing contains a catalogue of gestures and emotions. I listen to music while I draw and sometimes lyrics repeat in my head and creep in as a title—especially the angsty-heartache of Robert Smith. These titles play with ambiguity and vulnerability. The landscape in this sense becomes a metaphor for a lover, and in turn brings into focus our own relationship with nature in the Anthropocene age. ONE & TWO PERSON SHOWS 2022 I LIVE ANOTHER LIFE, Studio 1.1, London 2021 SLIPPING OUT OF MY ORDINARY EYES, Gallery of The Giants, Wiltshire 2018 ON THE EDGE, Lodestone Creative, Bowling, Scotland 2017 THE SAME DEEP WATER, The Great Medical Disaster, Manchester (with Darren Nixon) 2002 THERE TO HERE, Tmesis Gallery, Manchester 2001 INTERIOR LANDSCAPE, Glass Box Gallery Salford SELECTED GROUP SHOWS 2022 THIS YEARS MODEL:3, Studio 1.1, London 2022 ANOTHER GREEN WORLD, Art Hub Gallery, London 2022 PASTEL SOCIETY, Mall galleries, London 2021 THIS YEAR’S MODEL, Studio 1.1 Gallery, London 2021 I DIDN’T LICK IT, Bruton Museum, Somerset 2021 Cancelled WALES CONTEMPORARY, Oxo Tower Gallery, London 2021 RWA 168th ANNUAL OPEN, RWA, Bristol 2020 WALES CONTEMPORARY, Waterfront Gallery, Milford Haven 2020 DRAWING BEYOND ITSELF, Air Gallery, Manchester 2020 DRAWING BEYOND ITSELF, virtual show, http://www.artsteps.com 2020 FERENS OPEN, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull 2019 WE EACH HAVE OUR OWN LANDSCAPE, Lewisham Art House, London 2019 BLUE MIND, 3rd on 3rd Gallery, Jamestown, NY 2019 CREEKSIDE OPEN: selected by BRIAN GRIFFITHS, APT Gallery, London 2018 EDITION 5: HIDE AND SEEK, 44AD Gallery, Bath 2018 ART FEAST, Someth1ng Gallery, London 2018 THRESHOLDS, Gonzo Unit, Thessaloniki, Greece 2018 MURMURATION, ICE Space, Bath Fringe, Bath 2018 SIGHTLINES, Christmas Steps Gallery, Bristol 2017 THE SAME DEEP WATER, The Great Medical Disaster, Manchester 2017 EVOLVE DAMN IT, Camberwell Arts Festival, London 2016 PROOF, Art Hub Gallery, London 2016 THIS YEAR’S MODEL: DEEP SPACE, Studio 1.1, London 2016 RE:COUNT, Someth1ng Gallery, London 2016 LOOKING UP, Studio 1.1, London 2016 SIXTY, Art Athina, Art Fair, Athens 2016 SIXTY, Lubomirov / Angus Hughes, London 2016 KEEP ME POSTED, Art Hub Gallery, London 2016 COVER VERSION, Studio 73 Gallery, London 2016 LOVE & LOSS WE’RE ALL JUST ANIMALS, Someth1ng Gallery, London 2016 ART CONVERTERS, Studio 1.1, London 2015 SEASONAL FAIR, Chalton Gallery, London 2015 SEASONAL FAIR, Someth1ng Gallery, London 2015 BAZAAR, Lubomirov / Angus Hughes, London 2015 ART NOUVEAU, Studio 73 Gallery, London 2015 UNTITLED, Someth1ng Gallery, London 2015 CHEMCRAFT, Espacio Gallery, London 2015 THE PRINT EXHIBITION, ArtHub Gallery, London 2006 UNTIL IT MAKES SENSE, Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Paris 2006 UNTIL IT MAKES SENSE, Seventeen Gallery, London 2006 WHO CARES ABOUT GREEK ART?, Independent space, Athens 2005 I.E. Video Archive, Independent space, London 2005 HER UP STAIRS, Open studio, Temporary Contemporary, London 2004 Video Symposium, Rhotas 2 Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan 2004 Experimental Video Art, Puratha University, Thailand 2001 SUMMER BIENNALE, International 3 Gallery, Manchester 2000 YOU ARE HERE, Holden Gallery, Manchester 2000 MAN MOMA, International 3 Gallery, Manchester RESIDENCIES/ PROJECTS 2021 Residency at Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, London 2021 Bruton Correspondence Course, Bruton 2018 Residency at Lodestone Creative, Bowling, Scotland 2017 Great Medical Disaster, with Darren Nixon, Manchester AWARDS/ PRIZES 2016 WINNER, SIXTY, Lubomirov / Angus Hughes gallery, London 2016 Winner, People’s Choice Award, KEEP ME POSTED, Art Hub, London PRESS/ PUBLICATIONS 2022 Emma Coop’s Studio: contemplating waves and hedges, Feature, Escape Zine with Editorial Content https://editorialcontent.bigcartel.com/product/escape 2021 Interview with Bob Chaundy for the Bob Considers Art Podcast: https://consideringart.com/2021/07/19/considering-art-podcast-emma-coop-landscape-artist/ 2020 Interview with Jayson Gylen and Jay Ottewell from North West Drawing Collective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wmyrti3Now 2018 Interview with Camilla Holder of Lodestone Creative: http://www.lodestonecreative.org/emma-coop.html# 2016 Interview, South East London Journal, issue 7, Autumn 2006 Art Monthly, Until It Makes Sense, review, issue 297, June 2006 Until It Makes Sense, Exhibition Catalogue 2006 Who Cares About Greek Art, Exhibition Catalogue 2006 GAP (Greek Arts Projects), review, issue 7 2006 Highlights magazine, review, issue 20 2004 Make Annual, review, Issue 01 2000 Art Monthly, The International 3 review, Issue 240, October COLLECTIONS Private collections in UK, Germany, France and USA |
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