Dylan Cooper is a young emerging artist residing on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Dylan has had several solo exhibitions since completing professional art studies and currently exhibits with several galleries and has been a part of numerous group shows throughout Australia.
Recently entering prize shows, Dylan has been selected as a finalist and been awarded for his work. Last year, Dylan was Artist In Residence at the luxurious Halcyon House, during his residency Dylan focused on the amazing architecture and interior design elements of this award-winning hotel.
His art practice is evolving with every new body of work he produces. His distinctive style is being honed as a result of growing maturity and awareness.
My work has always been about social observation, seeing the humour and the hidden desperation of those businessmen who scurry to and from their offices. I spend a lot of time in Sydney’s Martin Place, watching people, the flow of humanity, noticing their body language. I was inspired by the beautiful and dynamic movement of a flock of bewigged and gowned barristers; the gait of a man in a suit, nearing his retirement. They represent to me the desperation and unhappiness I see in men of a certain age and that moment when they realise that their working lives, their striving to succeed has amounted to nothing. The sea washes away all the fussiness of the city so that you can see what is really going on – the machinations of big business, the political manoeuvring and the lack of responsibility.
The juxtaposition of the man in the suit with the ocean is not about death but about introspection, about the goals we set ourselves, the quest for individualism and thence the loss of social interaction. The men in my paintings have spent a lifetime earning money, keeping up with technology, which in return isolates them – from their families, society, and their feelings.
Dylan Cooper CV
