About James Cooper Images
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Awards
2021
Honorable Mention
Honorable Mention in the Landscapes & Seascapes Series category for Beckett's Spirit, Black Sunset, Brown Sunset, Serene, and Winter Silhouette.
2020
International Color Awards, 13th Annual International Competition - Fine Art Nominee
2019
International Color Awards, 12th Annual International Competition - Fine Art Nominee
2018
The 12th Pollux Awards - Series Winner
2018
International Photography Awards (Lucie Foundation) - honorable mention
2018
International Color Awards, 11th Annual competition - nominee
2017
Juror Merit Award
2016
International Photography Awards (Lucie Foundation) - honorable mention.
2016
Artslant 2nd 2016 Showcase Winner
2016
Gallery 110
2015
Artslant 2nd 2015 Showcase Winner
2015
Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) "White"
2015
Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) Annual
2014
Artslant 6th 2014 Showcase Winner
2014
Artslant 4th 2014 Showcase Winner
2013
Artslant 7th 2013 Showcase Winner
2013
International Photography Awards (Lucie Foundation)
2012
Artslant 4th 2012 Showcase Winner
2010
Prix De La Photographie Paris (PX3)
2010
Prix De La Photographie Paris (PX3)
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Previous events
Event: Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts 10th International Call to explore the current state of contemporary photography.
Dates: 21 Mar 2024 - 12 Apr 2024
Juried group exhibition, juried by Karen Haas, Lane Senior Curator of Photographs at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA.
Event: Architecture in Contemporary Art
Dates: 4 Feb 2023 - 18 Mar 2023
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Architecture in Contemporary Art, juried group exhibition, juried Frank Escher of Escher GuneWardena Architecture and Ravi GuneWardena of Escher GunaWardena Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, 2023.
Escher is the editor of the monograph “John Lautner, Architect,” and serves on the boards of the John Lautner Foundation, the Julius Shulman Institute, and the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design. GuneWardena is currently the director of the Los Angeles branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.
Event: 8th International Call to explore the current state of contemporary photography.
Dates: 21 Apr 2022 - 13 May 2022
Juried group exhibition, juried by Jessica Roscio, Director and Curator of the Danforth Art Museum at Framingham State University, MA.
Event: SE Center for Photography - Open 2022
Dates: 7 Jan 2022 - 30 Jan 2022
SE Center for Photography, juried group exhibition, juried by Coco Conroy, Director of the Jackson Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
Event: 16th Pollux Awards
Dates: 10 Aug 2021 - 30 Sep 2021
16th Pollux Awards, juried group exhibition, juried by Stephen Perloff, editor of the Photo Review, Langhorne, PA.
Honorable Mention in the Landscapes & Seascapes Series category for Beckett's Spirit, Black Sunset, Brown Sunset, Serene, and Winter Silhouette.
Event: In Celebration of Trees
Dates: 1 Aug 2021 - 1 Sep 2021
PhotoPlace Gallery, juried group exhibition, juried Catherine Couturier, Director of the Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston, TX.
Event: unbound
Dates: 1 Aug 2021 - 15 Sep 2021
A Smith Gallery, juried group exhibition, juried by Crista Dix, associate director of the Griffin Museum, Winchester, MA.
Event: The Other Art Fair Los Angeles Spring 2021
Dates: 24 Jun 2021 - 27 Jun 2021
Art fair.
Event: SE Center for Photography - Memory 2021
Dates: 5 Mar 2021 - 27 Mar 2021
SE Center for Photography, juried group exhibition, juried by Fran Forman, photo-painting Artist, New England
Event: SE Center for Photography - Forsaken 2020
Dates: 2 Oct 2020 - 30 Oct 2020
Juried group exhibition, juried by Leslie-Claire Spillman, Director of the Soren Christensen Gallery, New Orleans, LA, 2020.
Event: A Smith Gallery - unconstrained
Dates: 12 Jul 2019 - 30 Aug 2019
Juried group exhibition, juried by Catherine Couturier, Director of Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston, TX.
Event: FOCUS Photo L.A. Summer 2019
Dates: 12 Jul 2019 - 30 Aug 2019
Juried group exhibition, juried by Deborah Klochko, Executive Director & Chief Curator, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA, W.M. Hunt, Collector,
Curator & Consultant, and Bryant Toth , Director, TOTH Gallery, New York, NY.
Event: International Competition
Dates: 5 May 2018 - 2 Jun 2018
Texas Photographic Society International Competition, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, TX (2018, touring to the Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX, 2018 and the Options Gallery at Odessa College, Odessa, TX, 2019) international juried group exhibition, juried by Kate Breakey, photographer.
Event: Fall National Juried Exhibition “AbstrAction”
Dates: 14 Oct 2017 - 19 Nov 2017
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Catharine Clark, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco and New York, 2017.
Event: The Print Center 91st Annual International Competition
Dates: 1 May 2017 - 4 Jul 2017
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Kelly Baum, the Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Curator of Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, and Jennifer Farrell, Associate Curator, Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.
Event: Annual PRC Juried Exhibition
Dates: 28 Apr 2017 - 10 Jun 2017
Juried group exhibition, juried by Sarah Kennel, The Bryne Family Curator of Photography, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, 2017.
Event: Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition
Dates: 21 Apr 2017 - 21 May 2017
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Susan Sayre Batton, Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, 2017.
Event: Primary Colors
Dates: 18 Apr 2017 - 14 Jun 2017
Juried group exhibition, juried by Ann M. Jastrab, Gallery Director, Rayko Photo Center and Gallery, San Francisco, CA,
Event: A Smith Gallery
Dates: 16 Dec 2016 - 28 Jan 2017
Juried group exhibition, juried by Michael Kenna, photographer.
Event: 2016 International Juried Exhibition
Dates: 12 Nov 2016 - 23 Dec 2016
Center for Photographic Art, international juried group exhibition, juried by Linde B. Lehtinen, PhD., Assistant Curator of Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA.
Event: Fall National Juried Exhibition
Dates: 29 Oct 2016 - 4 Dec 2016
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Susan Snyder, Gallery Director, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Event: 2016 American Art Today: What is American Art?
Dates: 1 Oct 2016 - 11 Dec 2016
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Dr. William U. Eiland, Director of the Georgia Museum of Art, Highlands, NC.
Event: A Smith Gallery
Dates: 12 Aug 2016 - 18 Sep 2016
Juried group exhibition, juried by Julie Blackmon, photographer, Johnson City, TX.
Event: 11th National Juried Exhibition
Dates: 5 Aug 2016 - 28 Aug 2016
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Gregory Volk, art writer, contributing editor for Art in America, independent curator, and lecturer, New York, NY.
Event: Colorado Photographic Arts Center
Dates: 5 Aug 2016 - 27 Aug 2016
Juried group exhibition, juried by Tim Wride, Curator of Photography at the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL.
Event: FotoFilmic’16 International Juried Film Photography Competition
Dates: 5 May 2016 - 31 Dec 2016
International juried group exhibition, various jurors, Shortlist.
Event: Left Coast National Juried Exhibition
Dates: 15 Apr 2016 - 22 May 2016
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Lucía Sanromán, Director of Visual Arts at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, 2016.
Event: 9th Annual Competition
Dates: 1 Mar 2016 - 20 May 2016
International juried group exhibition, various jurors, Nominee.
Event: 6th Annual Juried Show Exhibition
Dates: 3 Feb 2016 - 27 Feb 2016
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Melissa Feldman, independent curator and taught at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, the California College of Art, the San Francisco Art Institute and Goldsmith’s College in London, Seattle, WA, 2016.
Event: Summer National Juried Exhibition
Dates: 6 Jun 2015 - 10 Jul 2015
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Nancy Meyer, Curatorial Assistant of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art, CA, 2015.
Event: Left Coast National Juried Exhibition
Dates: 17 Apr 2015 - 8 May 2015
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Cathy Kimball, Chief Curator, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA, 2015.
Event: Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) Annual competition
Dates: 2 Apr 2015 - 26 Jun 2015
International juried group exhibition, various jurors. Honorable mention: Agriculture Series. 2015.
Event: Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) “White” competition
Dates: 1 Mar 2015 - 1 Jun 2015
International juried group exhibition, various jurors. Honorable mention: White Barn. 2015.
Event: Nature
Dates: 1 Oct 2014 - 16 Dec 2014
Juried group exhibition, juried by Susan Spiritus, Director, Susan Spiritus Gallery, CA.
Event: Don't Take Pictures Magazine
Dates: 30 Sep 2014 - 29 Nov 2014
Juried group exhibition, juried by Kat Kiernan, Roger Thompson, Jack Romano, Kate Ziegler, and Shannon Mohrman, Lexington, VA
Event: The Photo Review
Dates: 2 Sep 2014 - 31 Dec 2014
Juried group exhibition, juried by Jennifer Blessing, Senior Curator of Photography, Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Event: Left Coast National Juried Exhibition
Dates: 27 Mar 2014 - 20 May 2014
Mixed media juried group exhibition, juried by Jenny Gheith, assistant curator for painting and sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA
Event: The Art of Photography Show
Dates: 1 Oct 2013 - 29 Nov 2013
Juried group exhibition, juried by Julia Dolan, The Minor White Curator of Photography, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Event: International Photography Awards
Dates: 1 Aug 2013 - 31 Oct 2013
Juried group exhibition, various jurors. Honorable mention: Agriculture Series.
Event: Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3)
Dates: 1 Jun 2010 - 23 Nov 2010
International juried group exhibition, various jurors. Honorable mentions: Vineyard Tree and Soldiers Per Gallon
Biography
"A similar sense of calm informs James Cooper's three renderings of distant horizons. They manage to recall Hiroshi Sugimoto seascapes and color-field painting both."
Mark Feeney, arts writer, reviewer, and editor, Boston Globe
"In his unmanipulated, sweeping American landscapes - captured with transparency film - James Cooper's alluring compositions feature simple shapes and geometries with minimal detail, elevating his work into elegant abstract imagery."
Elin Spring, photography writer, What Will You Remember?
"Cooper's 'Surf Beach Station' is compelling.”
Daniella Walsh, art critic
"The
fact is that when one stands in front of one of James Cooper's works, one
wonders in this era of computer graphics, if his images have been manipulated.
The answer is no; they are unmanipulated.”
Antoinette Sullivan, Studio Gallery
About
Suggestive of the American modernism Precisionism movement, the work is characterized by the reduction of compositions to simple shapes and underlying geometrical structures, with clear outlines, minimal detail, unexpected viewpoints and framing, and an emphasis on the abstract form of the subject.
American Precisionists focused on selecting subjects
from the American landscape and regional American culture. Many of the same
artists applied their new style to long-familiar American scenes, such as
agricultural structures and domestic architecture. Even such conventional
motifs as a still life of fruit or flowers were treated to a fresh assessment
in the Precisionist style. Their paintings, drawings, and prints also showed
the influence of recent work by American photographers such as Paul Strand.
The style is evident in Ellsworth Kelly's photographs, from 1950s through the 1980s of barns, their interlocking forms evoking the planes of his own paintings and sculptures. Central to many of these images are windows, roofs, and the shadows they cast. He explains that "[...] I'm not interested in the texture of the rock, or that it is a rock, but in the mass of it, and its shadow."
The connections between the Precisionist approach and
a wider social context were strong. One view was the utopian ideal of
technology bringing order to the modern world by enhancing the speed,
efficiency, and cleanliness of everyday life. The opposing view stressed the
dehumanizing effects of technology, warning that it would replace workers,
create pollution, and dominate the landscape in a destructive manner.
Occasionally, these two attitudes coexisted in an ambiguous tension within a
single work of art.
"Artist friends would say to me, snickering a
little, 'What can a camera do in making art. It is just a camera'. Then one of
them asks for help in making an image with a camera (a backlit telephone pole
with just the foot pegs lit). We made it, he showed it at Otis (College of Art
and Design) and people said 'Wow, that's cool'."
By using just a camera and film, and not altering the film image in printing a photograph, what kind of images can be made?
Really the image should be an experience - it should shift you. Maybe make you smile. Remember when you were a child how a simple little thing could galvanize your entire being - time stood still and you felt totally connected to the world - there was a feeling of total contentment? And, an image made with film has a certain feel to it.
The photographic image should be an accurate record of what the camera and film captured. A transparency film image processed through standard chemistry, with the absolute minimum disturbance of the captured image during the processing and finishing stages, is the paradigm for an unmanipulated image. So, just a camera and some film.
