Boat 1 Biofoam, recycled stringers and plywood, organic surfwax, recycled plastic fin 48 x 52cm £1,400

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the language of surfing (PDF download)

Ben Cook - eden works

“…his work far outshines that of almost all his contemporaries...”

The Guardian

Visitors to The Eden Project this summer were able to see a new installation and exhibition by Cornwall based artist Ben Cook. Supported by Arts Council, South West, Ben was inspired to examine the landscape of Cornwall as both a surfer and an artist and became concerned with how popular culture affects the landscape in which we live.

The exhibition of “Landscape Paintings”, which was shown in The Core Gallery, forms the bulk of works featured in this, Ben’s second solo exhibition at Cornwall Contemporary. The wall based works are made from new eco-surfboard foams, resins, hemp cloths and recycled woods.

Although Ben is a fairly recent addition to the wealth of talented artists living and working in the south west - he moved to west Cornwall from Manchester four years ago - he has an impressive exhibition history and is widely regarded as one of the leading names in contemporary art.

At first glance of Ben’s work, you could be mistaken for thinking they are purely abstract in both conception and construction, bearing no relation to the Cornish landscape, or a ‘sense of place’. However, Ben’s work is informed both visually by the natural world and also in the very materials he uses. While in Manchester, Ben created ‘Found Paintings’ a series of works which incorporated found remnants from the cotton mill industry. In Cornwall, his work has explored the qualities of surfboard materials, as surfing has become his way of interacting with the landscape. The works reference the aesthetics of classic modernist landscape art, which is, and has been, so prevalent in Cornwall.

Never an artist to find a formula and repeat it ad infinitum, Ben constantly breaks his own boundaries and is as comfortable with painting as he is creating constructions and installations, curating exhibitions and utilising new and exciting mediums. A cursory glance at his biography will testify to the variation in the way Ben expresses himself as an artist - ‘Boys Who Sew’, Crafts Council Galleries London, ‘Encounters - Artists and new Media’, Drumcroon Gallery Wigan, ‘Found Paintings’, The Lowry and ‘Terrain - British Abstraction Now’, The Museum of Nonconformist Art, St. Petersburg to name but a few.

In today’s ecologically aware world, we endeavor to search for environmentally sound and sustainable solutions to our everyday living and Ben takes this one step further with his work as a practising artist. He manages to integrate his passion for the natural landscape of Cornwall with new technologies - he is the only artist in the world with access to the new biofoams and eco resins which are currently at the forefront of development in the south west. The resultant work is visually striking, often beautiful, while the reference to landscape underpins the basis of these lustrous, innovative constructions.

Sarah Brittain
Director - Cornwall Contemporary

Ben Cook

Education
2001-2004 Research Fellow at MIRIAD Manchester Metropolitan University
1997-1998 M.A Fine Art Manchester Metropolitan University
1996-1997 P.G.C.E Manchester Metropolitan University
1986-1989 B.A Fine Art (Painting) University of Sunderland
1985-1986 Foundation Course Wakefield Technical College

Selected One Person Exhibitions
2008 ‘Ben Cook - Eden Works’ Cornwall Contemporary Penzance
2008 ‘Ben Cook at Eden’ the Eden Project Cornwall
2007 ‘Landscape Paintings’ Cornwall Contemporary Penzance
2006 ‘Landscape Paintings’ Phoenix Gallery Exeter
2004 ‘Found Paintings’ Margaret Harvey Gallery University of Herts.
2003 ‘Found Paintings’ Pump House Gallery Battersea Park London
2002 ‘Found Paintings’ The Lowry Salford Arts Council National Touring Programme - Curator-Emma Anderson
2001 ‘Found Paintings’ West Park Museum Macclesfield
2000 ‘Finding Faults’ The Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester. Curator-Michael Simpson Publication-Roger Wilson
2000 ‘Found Paintings’ The Mappin Art Gallery Sheffield Curators-Charles Esche/Paul Nesbitt Catalogue-Julie Milne
1995 ‘Laiking Out’ Dean Clough Galleries Halifax
1994 ‘New Work’ Castlefield Gallery Manchester
1993 ‘Painting’ Chapman Gallery Salford

Selected Group Exhibitions
2008 ‘The Happening Live’ - international touring show of contemporary surf art, film and photography
2006 ‘One love: the football art Prize’ The lowry Salford
2004 ‘Terrain-British Abstraction now’ The Museum of Nonconformist Art St. Petersburg. Curator-Rick Copsey
2004 ‘Boys Who Sew’ Crafts Council Galleries London and tour Curator Janis Jefferies
2003 ‘Encounters - Artists and new media’ Drumcroon Gallery Wigan
2003 ‘r + d’ - Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art Sunderland
1999 ‘new contemporaries’ Liverpool Biennial/South London Gallery Curators-Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev/Susan Hiller/Keith Tyson
1999 ‘Departure Lounge’ Mart Festival Manchester
1998 ‘in transit’ Chelsea Arts Building New York City
1998 ‘Pebeo International Art Exhibition’ Marseilles France Curators-Dennis Oppenheim/Francois-Henri Debailleux
1996 ‘Pulse’ Bluecoat Gallery Liverpool
1994 ‘Asturias International’ Touring exhibition U.K./Spain
1993 ‘John Moores Exhibition 18’ Walker Art Gallery Liverpool
1993 ‘EAST’ Norwich Gallery Norfolk
1993 ‘R.O.S.L.’ London

Awards
2007 Grants for the arts individual major award from Arts Council England South West
2006 Third Prize in One Love the football art prize, the Lowry Salford
2006 Arts Council England South West award for development of new work
2002 Arts Council of England National Touring Programme award
2000 Arts Council of England Year of the Artist Residency award
1999 North West Arts Board Research and Development award
1999 North West Arts Board Exhibition publication award
1998 First Prize in Pebeo International Painting Competition
1993 The R.O.S.L Ernest Cassel Educational Trust prize

Collections
The Arts Council of England Collection
The Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester
The Friends of Manchester Art Gallery loan collection
The Atlas Collection Manchester
Collection of James Moores Liverpool
Urban Splash Manchester
British Airways Collection
The Museum of Nonconformist Art St Petersburg
Numerous private collections

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