David Cooper 'War Hed'

DAVID COOPER
WAR HED

“You are a ghost. Filled with stardust, wearing
the bones as the shield and the skin as the cape.
Fighting every day and opening up for the new
wounds in the hustle of hiding the old scars.”
Akshay Vasu

“There are acts of terror that can’t
be ignored or cleared from the mind.
The ‘War Hed’ series came about after
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In this series
destruction is the making. Clay, a simple
medium from the ground, moulded with
taped hands, and bitten, to sculpt these
brutal yet fragile forms. Biting the clay
was like an act of unarmed survival.
Some of these forms are shown in their
raw state and others have already been
cast in to bronze. The permanence
of molten metal imbuing further to an
intended poetic.”
David Cooper, 2023
2

3

Fallen (1)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 26 cm height
4

5

6

Fallen (2)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5),19 cm height
7

Fallen (3)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 18 cm height
8

9

10

War (1)
tattoo ink & marker pen on antique book paper, 30 x 22 cm
11

War (2)
tattoo ink & marker pen on antique book paper, 30 x 22 cm
12

13

14

War (3)
tattoo ink & marker pen on antique book paper, 30 x 22 cm
15

War (4)
tattoo ink & marker pen on antique book paper, 30 x 22 cm
16

17

18

War Hed (1)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 22 cm height
19

War Hed (2)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 30 cm height
20

21

22

War Hed (3)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 28 cm height
23

War Hed (4)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 28 cm height
24

25

26

War Hed (5)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 30 cm height
27

Biography
David Cooper’s work deals with disorder. His
work is examined inside out, and outside in,
through a series of unpremeditated and intuitive
processes. The works inquire into a humanity
that feels, fears and confronts restriction and
control; a state of being often conducive to an
abominable sense of desolation and fettered
anxiety. These unknown (and unknowable)
aspects of the human condition, driven by
momentary absences of restraint, structure
and control are embodied. Broken happenings,
motivated by instinct, assemblage techniques
and random thoughts, naivety and energy
are exploited to sculpt the identity of these
unfathomable aspects of human experience.
David Cooper was born in Wakefield, West
Yorkshire in 1972. He currently lives and works
in Suffolk. Cooper studied Fashion at John
Moores University followed by an MA in Fashion
Design at Central Saint Martins where he went
on to become lead designer and head of
menswear at Alexander McQueen. More recently
Cooper attended Fine Art summer school at the
Slade School of Fine Art in 2008. Works have
been exhibited extensively in the UK.
War Hed (6)
bronze (ed 3) / white jesmonite (ed 5), 38 cm height
28

29

Published by Anima Mundi to coincide with David Cooper ‘War Hed’
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers
Photography by Cameron Clarke
Anima Mundi . Street-an-Pol . St. Ives . Cornwall . +44 (0)1736 793121 . mail@animamundigallery.com . www.animamundigallery.com

www.animamundigallery.com