Nigel Cooke at pacegallery.com

After presenting paintings of lone figures at Pace Gallery’s new 25th Street headquarters in February of this year (a highlight of which is pictured here), British painter Nigel Cooke is back at pacegallery.com with new characters made while working in isolation.  Working at night has created an even more solitary environment for the artist from which he’s tried to capture how ‘perceptions are always changing when things are uncertain.’  Collectively titled ‘Midnights,’ each new work carries titles like ‘Shore,’ ‘Waiting’ or ‘Islands,’ that speak to the idea of a figure looking out to sea. (On view at pacegallery.com through June 2nd).

Nigel Cooke, Actaeon, oil and acrylic on linen, 88 9/16 x 64 9/16 inches, 2019.

Nigel Cooke at Pace Gallery

British artist Nigel Cooke has long blurred the line between abstraction and figuration, but recent monochromatic paintings on raw canvas at Pace Gallery convey new urgency and dynamism.  By contrasting surface areas of relative calm with intersecting webs of paint receding into the distance, Cooke suggests that focus can be achieved and released, instantly altering our perspective on the environments surrounding us.  (On view through Feb 29th).

Nigel Cooke, Gazing, oil and acrylic on linen, 88 9/16 x 64 9/16 inches, 2019.

Nigel Cooke at Pace Gallery

British artist Nigel Cooke has signed on with a new gallery and stepped back from the abstract style of his last New York solo show in 2012, but his typically dark, psychedelic undertones remain. The common point of his latest body of work is a cast of mysterious, otherworldly characters like this spotlit ‘blind philosopher’ who sees beyond the glowing lamplight and burning bush surrounding him. (At Pace Gallery’s 510 West 25th Street location through Oct 24th). Nigel Cooke, detail of Blind Philosopher, oil on linen backed with sailcloth, 250cm x 190 cm, 2015.