A new show at Black Swan Arts in Frome combines painting with music to create a stunning visual spectacle
Organisers say, “Barry Cooper’s Χάος – Chaos takes as its inspiration six violin sonatas by Belgian composer Eugéne Ysäye. The pieces are extremely challenging for the listener, but Barry has transformed them into visual interpretations on large canvases. He aims to ‘reach beyond the visible, into the world of paint through the music, deep into the canvas, layer by layer, brushstroke by brushstroke to an imagined fourth dimension: length, breadth, width and time’.
“The result is distinct new body of abstract work with some occasional figurative echoes. The artist will also paint a large painting live during the exhibition which will continue his interpretation of Ysäye’s sonatas.
“Barry studied philosophy at University College of North Wales at Bangor and later studied painting at the Royal College of Art in London. Since the mid-1970s he has been working with choreographers, composers and musicians, as well as the Rambert Dance Company, to produce paintings and sculptures that he describes as ‘a sort of hieroglyph, a record of the movement’.”
He says, “I am habitually drawn to the painters, composers and writers who are inventors; they appear to step out of the universe of their discipline and into a world which cannot be fully grasped or understood in their own time.’
His work has been shown widely in the UK and abroad, most notably on the Greek island of Paros and in Nairobi, Kenya. But Barry is possibly best known locally for his sculpture at Frome Community College, where he spent a year as artist in residence during the 1980s. This culminated in the European Community of Stones (ECOS) project – a collaboration with sculptor Laurence Knee of an amphitheatre surrounded by 12 monoliths from each of the original 1992 member countries of the European Economic Community. Aerolith, a two-tonne stone sculpture in the form of a dolmen, is also sited on the campus.
Barry’s work can also be seen on the Sustrans cycle track from Wells to Glastonbury. Syrens is an eight-mile long musical instrument consisting of nine waymarkers or standing stones, which was produced with artist/musician Laurence Parnell. Each stone has a recess cut into the top to accommodate a bronze scissor-arch and a bell, all of which are tuned to a different note.
The preview will take place on Friday 7th January from 6–8pm – everyone is welcome to come along.
The artist will appear in conversation with David Chandler on Saturday 11th January from 2–4pm. This event will be bookended by solo violin performances by Katalin Kertész. For further information, please visit www.blackswanarts.org.uk.
