John Copeland

John Copeland (b.1976) is a Californian artist who currently lives and works in New York City. By 1998, the artist gained his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree at California College of Arts and Crafts. John Copeland is an established artist, whose practice mainly focuses on the ambivalent relationship between abstraction and figuration. As Copeland states, 'I'm more interested in using the language of painting and working with the edge of abstraction, working with the push and pull of paint, image, readability and texture.'

 

Embarking on the journey in the search of equilibrium between the abstract and the figurative, Copeland simultaneously explores established art historical tropes such as the nude, the table and the skull, while suffusing his canvases with abstract mark making. Through the survey of complexities of image-making and representation, Copeland fuses figures into the background, revealing his very own colouristic sound and ensuring that no single colour dominates the canvas.

 

Drawing inspiration from previously encountered images, Copeland distorts the figures and shapes in thick layers of paint. Such technique allows the artist to incorporate a dimmer tone in his expressionist paintings, which is designed to conceal the ultimate lascivious human nature disguised under the experiences of everyday life. Copeland is driven to explore the balance between the daily realities and the violence and dark nature which naturally underlies human existence. 

 

John Copeland's work has been widely recognised and exhibited internationally in Copenhagen, Bologna, Zurich, New York, Leipzig and most recently at the Newport Street Gallery in London.