Spotlight Artist

Brian Cooper

Pacific Coast
Artist profile photo
Featured in New American Paintings

Artist Statement

Principally, my work focuses on abstract public sculpture as a crossroads between art and the general public. There is no blessed white cube to frame the work. Entropy takes over. Graffiti now competes for attention. These sculptures "plop" themselves down within the landscape. They have an alienating presence. They are simultaneously victims and aggressors.

Formally, the paintings further this conflict by providing compositional transitions from the common and mundane which then give way to the cleanliness and purity of abstraction. The base and material transcend to idea and near formlessness. Furthermore, these expressive modern abstract forms are interpreted by a highly representational or illustrational style which only complicates its hierarchical relationship.

These paintings serve to illuminate the long discussed, awkward place art has in our world. These conflicts of high and low, of elitism and populism, of the concrete and abstract still have their place in our cultural discussion, especially when the boundaries of each have never been more unclear.

Artist's Additional works

Works shared by the artist outside of their featured New American Paintings selections

Featured artwork
Featured artwork

Discover more artists from the Pacific Coast

THE MAGAZINE

Explore our magazine to discover exceptional artists

Open magazine with text, modern illustrations, and a list of artists on a pink background.
View issues

Call for Artists

Submit your work for consideration

New American Paintings is a juried exhibition-in-print and digital, presenting the work of 40 emerging artists in each issue.

View competitions

Your gateway to new art

Discover tomorrow's art stars, today

Two books on a wooden table with a modern decorative sculpture in the background.

PRINT + EARLY ACCESS DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION

$179/YEAR

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION

$99/YEAR OR $10/MONTH

Each issue of New American Paintings features forty artists selected through our juried competitions—presented in a beautifully curated, full-color publication. Subscribers receive six issues per year, plus exclusive online access to current and past editions. Are you a collector? Consider our premium subscription and receive our museum-quality printed publication + access to each new digital issue two weeks before its general release.