Nigel Cooke 'New Accursed Art Club'

Initially I was interested by Cooke's work because of the dark quality in both the materials as well as subjects used. The brutalist architecture in the background also adds to this creating an almost ominous feel, highlighting the figures that are depicted.

The piece shows five men with unkempt grey beards and tatty-looking clothes are shown on a small hill or escarpment in the foreground. Cooke looks at the mystery of making and was 'trying to suggest a reactionary kind of conservative group of makers who are involved in mutual appreciation and supporting each other against the wider world, which is kind of how art often seems to work, as people kind of flock together in little teams and little groups to affirm their position, because it’s a vulnerable place to be’.

Cooke started this piece in 2008, making archives of the painting to show how it has progressed over time. The canvas was initially covered with a white primer and the scene was then executed in oil paint in many layers, painting one layer, then partially removing it before applying another. This process of making works both technical and linear.

The work demands continued looking in order to see every single detail, functioning in a thought provoking manner that entices the viewer.

“Painting has as its own logic and you just have to let it be what at is.” - Cooke

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