Julian Cooper

“Sawyers Wood”  112 x 152.5 cms  oil on canvas  2009-10

“Kailash North Face, Afternoon”  180 x 251 cms  oil on canvas  2007

“Lower Portal, Torano”  76 x 81 cms  oil on canvas  2010

“Bacino di Torano”  127 x 92 cms  oil on canvas  2010

“Cave Study, Little Langdale”  81 x 71 cms  oil on canvas  2008

Julian Cooper's paintings are about as exciting as a pile of rocks. At least, that's what the artist would like to think. Because he absolutely loves piles of rocks. He loves cliffs and quarries and mountain peaks and geology wherever and whenever its rears it's not so ugly faces. Here's a quote from the home page on his website: "When a piece of land inclines toward the vertical our relationship towards it changes. We can no longer walk on it and it cannot grow food for us. So we either ignore it, or it becomes an aesthetic object in itself, akin to a work of art..." So it sort of follows that you can either ignore this artist's paintings, or you can get as excited about them as he does about those rocks. I go for the latter option. Not because I share his unabashed enthusiasm for the subject matter, but because he brings such skill to the task that he makes me feel like I ought to. And the more I look at these, and the more I think about it, the more I become convinced that maybe I do share his enthusiasm. It's just that I hadn't really thought about it in quite that way before. And THAT is the power of art.
There's plenty more to look at on his website: www.juliancooper.co.uk