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Article: Barbara Cooper at the Chicago Cultural Center.(art exhibition)
- Article from:
- Art in America
- Article date:
- April 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Nature is Barbara Cooper's starting point. She returns to it again and again, but always from different perspectives and with fresh energy. Her recent exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center--three cast-iron floor sculptures and four 5-by-10-foot charcoal drawings--marks a dramatic change and renewed initiative in her work.
For many years, the artist has glued together layers of wood-veneer scrap to construct hollow sculptures whose compact, rounded and twisted forms suggest wasp nests, fungi, pods and tree trunks. The surfaces of these works recall bark, fish scales and the lines on seashells. These multiple references result from her strategy of paring forms ...