Two years spent in India changed Cook's approach to painting from one of western composition and notation (and colour) to a more haptic, intimate practice in which sand drawings made in Varanasi inspired his switch to monochrome graphite. These ‘graphites’ were quickly exhibited internationally and became part of major collections of several major art institutions. His works have also been awarded several major painting prizes, including one at the prestigious John Moores Liverpool.
For British artist Christopher Cook, the term Seeker describes both an attitude to life and a key aspect of his painting process. Throughout his career Cook has investigated novel, radical aspects of the natural and man-made environment, from the microscopic to the cosmic, and responded to philosophical notions and aesthetic principles, along with very human emotional truths.
Christopher COOK
For British artist Christopher Cook, the term Seeker describes both an attitude to life and a key aspect of his painting process. Throughout his career Cook has investigated novel, radical aspects of the natural and man-made environment, from the microscopic to the cosmic, and responded to philosophical notions and aesthetic principles, along with very human emotional truths. His international exhibitions have taken him to new cultures and situations, most frequently in the USA and the UK, but also in China, Japan and across Europe. He has also engaged in extended artist/academic residencies and research trips, and it was one such period in India that caused him to shift from high-key colour painting to what has now become his distinctive liquid graphite process, in which monochrome provides him with a speculative freedom during the formation of the image. The term seeker is thus highly applicable to his method, grounded in Surrealist practices of the early 20th century, developed when painting was under threat from photography, and in search of new subject matter sourced from the unconscious. Cook adapted surrealist approaches to his method, incorporating invention, accident, and revelation in the ‘discovery’ of a compelling image. He has previously stated that this approach keeps him alert and aware as an artist, and continues to permit a flow of imagery derived from the real world but that emerge in unexpected ways in the imaginative sphere.
Seeker also applies to certain themes found within the work, and certain images suggest the idea of pilgrimage, sometimes to seek dialogue with a learned person, (and we should bear in mind that the mystic or guru found in some of his recent miniature paintings will also be involved in inward-seeking). Seeker also refers to an increasingly surveillance-oriented society and military, as in the case of works made whilst Cook was in Taiwan. Such socio-political themes may emerge through the same improvisatory method, but are realised in greater detail and with greater specificity. Cook views this interplay of real-world reference and imaginative transformation as the central dynamic and discourse within his work.
To a Taiwanese audience it will be obvious that there is also the influence of Eastern ink-painting traditions, partly due to the monochrome, but also due to the quality of his graphite medium, which is diluted with mineral spirits to achieve an ink-like consistency. An Eastern reference may also be found in the flow and the apparent spontaneity of the mark-making, often using unconventional implements. Cook has often pointed out however, that such eastern influence came after many years of working monochromatically, and also speaks of how the apparent spontaneity can be deceptive. The thinness of the medium and the manner of mark-making suggests the work has been made quickly - as indeed it occasionally is - more commonly however, the image undergoes a series of rehearsals in which, with each iteration, image and subject is explored in various configurations, which will often spoil the flow of marks or the composition. When this occurs, Cook will wipe away the image (his painting ground is deliberately slippery and resistant to facilitate this) and begin again. He uses these apparently fruitless periods in the studio as preparations, or rehearsals, towards the final ‘performance’ of an image, and sometimes these rehearsals will continue for many days or weeks until the image is finally captured. In this ‘attentive dissatisfaction’ (as he terms it) lies the intention of the exhibition title, indicating that although an image may seem fluent and spontaneous, it is often hard-won through long periods of search and, eventually, recognition.
SEEKER: Christopher COOK
For British artist Christopher Cook, the term Seeker describes both an attitude to life and a key aspect of his painting process. Throughout his career Cook has investigated novel, radical aspects of the natural and man-made environment, from the microscopic to the cosmic, and responded to philosophical notions and aesthetic principles, along with very human emotional truths. His international exhibitions have taken him to new cultures and situations, most frequently in the USA and the UK, but also in China, Japan and across Europe. He has also engaged in extended artist/academic residencies and research trips, and it was one such period in India that caused him to shift from high-key colour painting to what has now become his distinctive liquid graphite process, in which monochrome provides him with a speculative freedom during the formation of the image. The term seeker is thus highly applicable to his method, grounded in Surrealist practices of the early 20th century, developed when painting was under threat from photography, and in search of new subject matter sourced from the unconscious. Cook adapted surrealist approaches to his method, incorporating invention, accident, and revelation in the ‘discovery’ of a compelling image. He has previously stated that this approach keeps him alert and aware as an artist, and continues to permit a flow of imagery derived from the real world but that emerge in unexpected ways in the imaginative sphere.
Seeker also applies to certain themes found within the work, and certain images suggest the idea of pilgrimage, sometimes to seek dialogue with a learned person, (and we should bear in mind that the mystic or guru found in some of his recent miniature paintings will also be involved in inward-seeking). Seeker also refers to an increasingly surveillance-oriented society and military, as in the case of works made whilst Cook was in Taiwan. Such socio-political themes may emerge through the same improvisatory method, but are realised in greater detail and with greater specificity. Cook views this interplay of real-world reference and imaginative transformation as the central dynamic and discourse within his work.
To a Taiwanese audience it will be obvious that there is also the influence of Eastern ink-painting traditions, partly due to the monochrome, but also due to the quality of his graphite medium, which is diluted with mineral spirits to achieve an ink-like consistency. An Eastern reference may also be found in the flow and the apparent spontaneity of the mark-making, often using unconventional implements. Cook has often pointed out however, that such eastern influence came after many years of working monochromatically, and also speaks of how the apparent spontaneity can be deceptive. The thinness of the medium and the manner of mark-making suggests the work has been made quickly - as indeed it occasionally is - more commonly however, the image undergoes a series of rehearsals in which, with each iteration, image and subject is explored in various configurations, which will often spoil the flow of marks or the composition. When this occurs, Cook will wipe away the image (his painting ground is deliberately slippery and resistant to facilitate this) and begin again. He uses these apparently fruitless periods in the studio as preparations, or rehearsals, towards the final ‘performance’ of an image, and sometimes these rehearsals will continue for many days or weeks until the image is finally captured. In this ‘attentive dissatisfaction’ (as he terms it) lies the intention of the exhibition title, indicating that although an image may seem fluent and spontaneous, it is often hard-won through long periods of search and, eventually, recognition.