About - Eileen Cooper RA

Eileen Cooper is an artist known for her strong and passionate commitment to figuration.

Originally from the Peak District, Cooper has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Her work is held in many public and private collections including the Tate Gallery; the Arts Council Collection; the British Museum; Manchester Art Gallery; Mima, Middlesborough; New Hall Art Collection, University of Cambridge; the Royal Collection; Victoria & Albert Museum; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; Kunsthalle, Nuremberg; Walpole Library, Yale University.

‘Stories are never far away. Mythology, fairytales, bible stories, comics and early special effects movies…
They are all inspirations.’

Studying first at Goldsmiths College (1971-74) and then at the Royal College of Art (1974-77) she went on to teach at a wide range of art schools including St Martin’s, the Royal College of Art, City & Guilds in London and latterly at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 2000 she was elected a Royal Academician. From 2010-17 Cooper served as Keeper of the Royal Academy, one of only 4 officers selected from the 80 Royal Academicians, and with primary responsibility for the Royal Academy Schools, thereby becoming the first woman to be elected to this role since the RA began in 1768.

She was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Art and Art Education in 2016. Her commitment to the development of emerging artists continues to be a particular focus. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art, and of Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Southampton Solent University in 2014.

‘From my roots in objective drawing to the large scale imaginative works, the female figure and female identity has always been central to my practice.’

Themes
Her richly diverse images, simultaneously bold and tender, reveal a range of feeling that is both deeply engrossing and readily accessible, yet still very much part of contemporary art practice.

Throughout her career Cooper’s work has contained a strong autobiographical element. However, her vision is always more allegorical than anecdotal, her concerns and experiences as relevant and timeless as those of the human spirit itself.

A monograph on Eileen Cooper RA written by Martin Gayford was published in May 2015.

A brief history
—
1953
Born in Glossop, Derbyshire

—
1971–74
Goldsmiths College, London
—
1974–77
Royal College Of Art, London

—

1977–2000

Visiting lecturer at Art Schools throughout the UK, including Falmouth School Of Art, Leicester Polytechnic, St. Martin’s School of Art, Camberwell School of Art & City and Guilds, London

—

1994–2006

Part time Lecturer in Printmaking at Royal College of Art

—

2001

Elected Royal Academician

—

2002

Honorary Member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers

—
2005–2010

Head of Printmaking, Royal Academy Schools

—
2006

Fellow of the Royal College of Art

—
2011–2017

Elected Keeper of the Royal Academy

—

2011

Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Art

—

2014

Hon Doc of Art Southampton Solent University

—

2016

Honorary Fellow, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge

—

2016

OBE for services to Art and Art Education

Awards and Commissions
—
2017
Co-Ordinator Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
—
2010 & 2013
Artist in residence, Alayrac, France

—

2009

Royal Academy Summer Show Curator/Co-ordinator

Selector Originals, Mall Galleries, London

—

2008–9

Artist in residence, Lewisham College

—

1999

Arts & Humanities Research Board, Award for Ceramic work “Ceramics from a Fine Artist”

—

1999

Cover & illustrations for Carol Ann Duffy’s “Meeting Midnight” Pub. Faber & Faber

—
1998–9

Artist in residence, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

—
1986

Frontispiece: Carol Ann Duffy’s “Thrown Voices”, pub. Bernard Stone

—
1982

Staircase Project, ICA, London

Collections
—
Cooper has exhibited extensively since 1980 and examples of her work are held in numerous public collections.

Arts Council Collection
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
British Council
British Museum
Dallas Museum of Art
Government Art Collection, DCMS, London
Imperial College, London
Kunsthalle, Nuremberg, Germany
Manchester Art Galleries
Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate
MIMA, Middlesborough
New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
Newport Art Gallery
Open University, Milton Keynes
Otter Gallery
Pallant House
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
Royal Academy of Arts
Royal Collection
Ruth Borchard Collection
Swindon Art Gallery
The Hepworth Wakefield
The Jerwood Collection
The Tate Gallery
Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
University of Warwick Art Collection
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Walpole Library, Yale University, USA
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Selected solo exhibitions
—
2022
Parallel Lines, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
—
2022
Somewhere or Other, Huxley Parlour Gallery, London
—
2021
Nights at the Circus, Sims Read Gallery, London
—
2019
Personal Space: New Paintings, Huxley Parlour Gallery, London
—
2019
Short Stories, Sims Reed Gallery, London
—
2018
Forest, Rabley Gallery, Marlborough, Wiltshire
Under the Same Moon, Letitia Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
Night Music (or Labour of Love), The Cornhall, Diss, Norfolk
—
2017
Till the Morning Comes, The Fine Art Society, London
Eileen Cooper: A Woman’s Skin, curated by Dr Meredith Hale, Wolfson
College, Cambridge
—
2016–17
Hide and Seek, Drawing 1977–2014, touring to Swindon
Museum, and Art Gallery, The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate
—
2016
Love-in-Idleness, Rook and Raven Gallery, London
Between the Lines, Galerie MIRO, Prague, Czech Republic
—
2015
Hide and Seek, Drawing 1977–2014 Royal Academy of Arts, Tennant Gallery and Fine Rooms
Garden, Rabley Dawing Centre, Wiltshire
—
2014
Eileen Cooper RA, Paintings and Works on Paper, Atelier Rose and Gray, Hale, Cheshire
—
2013
Edge to Edge, Art First, London
—
2012
Aldeburgh Beach, South Lookout Project
—
2011
Showing Off, Art First, London
—
2010
Collages, Sir Hugh Casson Room, Royal Academy, London
New Work, Arts Club, London
—
2009
Dreams of Elsewhere, Art First, London
Crosscurrent, Brook Gallery, Budleigh Salterton
—
2008
Crossing, Art First Projects, London
Taking Stock: The Printmaking Of Eileen Cooper RA, Clifford Chance, London
The Cornerstone Gallery, Liverpool Hope University
—
2007
Deeper Water, Art First, London
—
2006
An Encore: Eileen Cooper, Art First Projects, London
—
2005
Time of Your Life, Art First London
—
2004
Subject Matter – Paintings Drawings & Prints, Glasgow Print Studio
—
2003
Eileen Cooper, 50, Art First London, Eileen Cooper at 50, A Celebration, Art First New York
—
2002
Passions: New Work on Paper, Art First, London
'Passions', Art First, New York
—
2000
Raw Material: Eileen Cooper at Dulwich Picture Gallery,
Raw Material Part II, Art First, London,
Homecoming – The Prints Of Eileen Cooper, Clifford Chance, London
—
1999
Second Skin: Eileen Cooper in the 80s and 90s, touring to Wolverhampton, Nottingham and Eastbourne
—
1998
Open Secrets, Art First, London
Graphic Work, Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset
—
1997
Graphic Works, The Gallery In Cork Street with Benjamin Rhodes, London
—
1996–97
Touring Exhibition – Graphic Work, Darlington, Harrogate & Scarborough
—
1995
Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames
—
1994
Eileen Cooper at Sadlers Wells Theatre, London
Shapechanger, Benjamin Rhodes Gallery, London
—
1993–94
Touring Exhibition – Lifelines, Lancaster, Exeter, Newcastle, Brighton, Sheffield & Warwick
—
1992
Drawings, Benjamin Rhodes Gallery, London
—
1990
Paintings Drawings Prints, Benjamin Rhodes Gallery, London
—
1989
Works on Paper, Benjamin Rhodes Gallery, London
—
1998
Benjamin Rhodes Gallery, London
—
1987
Artsite Gallery, Bath
—
1986
Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
—
1985
Blond Fine Art, London, Artspace gallery, Aberdeen
—
1983
Blond Fine Art, London
—
1982
Blond Fine Art, London
—
1981
House Gallery, London
—
1979
AIR Gallery, London

Selected group exhibitions
—
2020
Graphic Impact : Our Lives in Print, Glasgow Print Studio
Secret Studio: Boecho Gallery, Barnes
—
2019
Women Artists in Conversation with Partou Zia, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
New Mythologies, Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London
—
2018
Sawdust and Sequins: The Art of the Circus Royal West of England Academy
Masters: Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow, Scotland
—
2017
Winter Group Show: Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent
You see me like a UFO: Marcelle Joseph Projects, Ascot, England
Good Nature, Candida Stevens Gallery, Chichester
Cut: Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow, Scotland
Mono: an Exhibition of Unique Prints, Flowers Gallery,London
Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, co ordinated by Eileen Cooper
Women Artists: a Conversation, The Fine Art Society, London
—
2016
Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Towards Night, curated by Tom Hammick, Towner Art Gallery Eastbourne
Surface Cutting, Keepers House, Royal Academy of Arts
Icon, Candida Stevens Fine Art, Chichester
—
2015
She Came to Stay, Rook and Raven Gallery, London
The Royal Academy at Wolfson, Wolson College, Cambridge
Good Figures, Mall Galleries London
The Downland Jerwood Gridshell West Sussex
Delineations, Drawing at Art First, London
Figuratively Speaking, Heike Moras Gallery, Marcelle Joseph Projects
—
2014
Master Drawings, Beaux Arts, London
Marcelle Joseph Projects, At Home Salon
Jerwood Drawing Prize 1994-2014: Artist as Selector, Jerwood Gallery, Hastings
Royal Academy Summer show (selector and exhibitor)
Underexposed: Female Artists and the Medium of Print. Studio 3 Gallery University of Kent
Wildwood, Rabley Drawing Centre, Wiltshire
Embrace, The Wilson, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum
—
2013–14
RA Portfolio Diamond Jubilee Gift, Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London
—
2012–13
Encounter, The Royal Academy in the Middle East, Cultural Village Foundation-Katara, Doha, Qatar
The Mechanical Hand : 25yrs of Printmaking at Paupers Press, Kings Place, Gallery, London
—
2012
Eileen Cooper & Sara Lee: The Peninsula Project, Stoneman Gallery, Penzance Encounter
The Royal Academy in Asia, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore
Twelve Royal Academicians in Edinburgh, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
—
2011
Contemporary Monotypes, Glasgow Print Studio 20 Years, Art First, London Print

Stoneman Gallery, Penzance The Discerning Eye, Mall gallery selector and exhibitor Bite, Mall Galleries, London
—
2010
Academicians (with David Mach, Neil Macpherson & Michael Visocchi)
Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow Originals, Mall Galleries, London
—
2009
ZOOM, Art First, London A Tribute to Hugh Stoneman Master Printer

Lemon St Gallery Truro Confluence curated by Eileen Cooper APT Gallery London
Stoneman Gallery Penzance Originals Mall Galleries selector/exhibitor
—
2008
Dialogue, Art First, London
Hugh Stoneman – Master Printer, Tate St. Ives, Cornwall
10 (The Chris Orr Printmaking Years), Gulbenkian Galleries, RCA, London
—
2007
Leben Lieben, RISE Gallery, Berlin
—
2006
Translations – Re-working from the National Gallery, Art First, London
Drawing Breath – 10 Years of the Jerwood Annual, Wimbledon College Of Art, London (touring UK & Sydney, Australia)
—
2004
The Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Space, London
Tradition & Innovation, Scarborough Museum and Art Gallery
Visual Wit, Royal Academy, London
—
2003
Art First in Print, Art First, London
The Divine Comedy, Art Space Gallery, London
ExPress – Printmaking From The Royal College Of Art, RCA, London
—
1999–2000
Hand To Hand (with Julian Stair), Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead & Art First, London
—
1998
The Contemporary Print Show Part I, The Barbican Centre

—
1997
The Body Politik, Wolverhampton Art Gallery
—
1996
Spirit on the Staircase, 100 Years of Print Publishing, RCA, V&A, London—
—
1994–95
An American Passion, The Susan Kasen Summer & Robert D Summer
Collection of Contemporary Painting, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow & Royal College of Art, London
—
1993
Contemporary Art at the Courtauld, Courtauld Institute, London
—
1992
The New Patrons, Twentieth Century Art from Corporate Collections, Christie's London
Myth, Dream and Fable, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham
Innocence and Experience, touring exhibition organised by the South Bank Centre & Manchester City Art Gallery: Manchester, Hull, Nottingham, & Glasgow
20th Century Women's Art, New Hall, Cambridge
—
1991/92
Look Here Upon This Picture and On This, selected by Norbert Lynton, South Bank Centre, touring exhibition
—
1991
Woodlands Art Gallery, London with Paula Rego
The Outsider: British Figuration Now, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy
Postmodern Prints, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
—
1989
Picturing People, selected by Norbert Lynton, British Council tour to Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong & Singapore
—
1988
The New British Painting, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati & tour, USA
—
1987
Conversations, Arts Council Touring Exhibition
—
1986
The Flower Show, selected by Norbert Lynton ,Stoke on Trent Museum
John Moores, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
—
1985/87
International Biennial of Graphic Art. Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
—
1985
Ten Years at Air, Air Gallery, London
Hand Signals, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
The Passion And The Power, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York
International Festival of Painting, Cagnes sur Mer, France
Proud and Prejudice, selected by William Feaver, Twining Gallery, NewYork
—
1984
The Image as Catalyst, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
—
1982/83/87
Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
—
1982
Nuremberg Drawing Triennial (Purchase Prize)
—
1980
Women's Images of Men, ICA, London
—
1974/6
New Contemporaries Exhibition
—
1977–2019
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition