Eileen Cooper RA
28th May - 27th June, 2009
Dreams of Elsewhere

Art first is delighted to announce its major summer show of new work by Eileen Cooper RA, Dreams of Elsewhere.

The title expresses the journey of the imagination that has taken place in Cooper's South London studio over the past two years. The vertiginous environments depicted in these new paintings and prints give a mixed message about their fantastical locations – elements of the picturesque, of rest and relaxation, are tinged with architectural tension, lending a sense of fragility to Cooper's ubiquitous human figures.

Tigers, longstanding inhabitants of Cooper's mythography, make new appearances. The painting Desire shows a woman delicately poised - walking the plank - apparently in a state of bliss, whilst a second figure (her second self?) conceals herself behind a multi-panelled screen decorated with the tiger and a fleeing heron. Meanings are multitude and these new precarious, confounding and beautiful stage sets help take our minds on the many travels that Cooper intends.

Eileen Cooper trained at Goldsmiths College and the Royal College Of Art. She has been exhibiting in gallery and museum spaces nationally and internationally, since the early 1980's, whilst currently teaching at the Royal Academy Schools. In 2001 Cooper was elected Royal Academician, and is one of the selectors for the RA Summer Show 2009.

> download press release (Adobe Reader Format)