Ian Cooper (artist)

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Ian Cooper
Born1978 (age 45–46)
New York City, U.S.
Occupations
  • Visual artist
  • film producer
  • academic
Years active2017–present

Ian Cooper (born 1978) is an American visual artist, [1] film producer, and academic, [2] best known for his collaborations [3] with Jordan Peele; he currently serves as creative director of Peele's Monkeypaw Productions. [4]

Contents

Career

Visual Art

Cooper has had solo exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad. His "mixed-media sculptures" [5] have been written about in The New York Times, [6] Artforum, [7] among others. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art [8] and the Pérez Art Museum. [9]

Cooper's art has been described as "obsessed with the dark side of adolescence and with how the transition from youth to adulthood is acted out in a variety of aesthetic statements." [7] Cooper's sculptures of "institutionalized surfaces" [10] "filtered through the aesthetics of his 1980s childhood, pervert the forms and features of K-12." [10] Works have featured references to ballet barres, [5] institutional projection screens, [5] and a "penetrated matador's cape." [5] Writing about his work, Artforum critic Alex Javonovich stated that Cooper's sculptures are "sensuous yet sterile" and "frantic and batty." [11]

Cooper's artistic style can be seen reflected in his film work, and themes and elements from his exhibiting art career have appeared in his contributions to films, including ballet barres [5] in scenes from Jordan Peele's Us.

Film

In 2017, Cooper was brought on as the Creative Director [4] of Monkeypaw Productions, as well as becoming Jordan Peele's producing partner. [12] Since joining the company, Cooper has produced the following feature films: Peele's 2019's Us ; Nia DaCosta's Candyman (2022); and Peele's 2022 film Nope .

Feature Films:

Us

During filming, Ian Cooper went to great lengths [13] to ensure key plot points weren't leaked early, in one instance telling passersby that the crew was filming a Verizon commercial.

Candyman

Cooper spoke highly about the unity of the cast and crew throughout the filming process. [14] Reviews of the film praised the writing, [15] directing, [16] and social critiques [17]

Nope

While few details have been released about Monkeypaw's latest film Nope, the teaser announcement [18] included a released date of July 22, 2022. It has been confirmed [19] that the cast will include Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun. Cooper is credited on the film as a producer.

Academia

Before entering the film world, Ian Cooper was on the sculpture faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School Department of Arts & Arts Professions from 2005 to 2017. Cooper also served as the lead faculty of the Senior Studio Program and was the program coordinator for the Senior Honors Studio program [20] across the first three years of its inception. During his tenure at NYU, Cooper co-created the NYU Curatorial Collaborative [2] which remains a capstone experience to the thesis program, as well as a cross-departmental program that unites a select group of curatorial graduate students from The Institute of Fine Art [21] with a group of jury-selected undergraduate visual artists from the Steinhardt Studio Art program. The initiative "fosters interdisciplinary teamwork that prepares both the artists and art historians for future projects in their respective fields" [22] and results in a series of exhibitions annually, held at the 80WSE Gallery. [23] Cooper also partnered with artist Sara Greenberger Rafferty to teach a Cartoon Logic course at Michigan's prestigious Ox-Bow School of Art. [24] [25]

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References

  1. ↑ "Ian Cooper | Artist Overview | MutualArt". www.mutualart.com.
  2. 1 2 "Senior Studio Program Coordinator" . Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  3. ↑ Kroll, Justin (April 1, 2021). "Following Oscar Nomination For 'Minari', Steven Yeun Eyes Jordan Peele's New Film At Universal".
  4. 1 2 "Monkeypaw Productions". www.monkeypawproductions.com. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "IAN COOPER – OFF/OFF : HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY" . Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  6. ↑ Smith, Roberta (November 16, 2001). "ART IN REVIEW; 'The Worst of Gordon Pym Continued'". The New York Times.
  7. 1 2 "Ian Cooper at CUE Art Foundation". www.artforum.com.
  8. ↑ "Whitney Museum of American Art". whitney.org.
  9. ↑ "PAMM | Pérez Art Museum Miami". www.pamm.org.
  10. 1 2 "Halsey McKay Gallery". www.artforum.com.
  11. ↑ Jovanovich, Alex (October 23, 2015). "Ian Cooper" . Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ian Cooper". Produced By Conference. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  13. ↑ staff, T. H. R. (November 11, 2019). "How Producers on 'Irishman,' 'Once Upon a Time' and 10 More Best Picture Contenders Overcame Their Biggest Challenges". The Hollywood Reporter .
  14. ↑ "Candyman - Ian Cooper - producer" – via www.youtube.com.
  15. ↑ ""Candyman," Reviewed: A Sequel That Cuts Far Deeper Than the Original". The New Yorker. August 26, 2021.
  16. ↑ Dargis, Manohla (August 26, 2021). "'Candyman' Review: Who Can Take a Sunrise, Sprinkle It With Blood?". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (August 25, 2021). "'Candyman' Review: A Slasher Movie with a Sharper Social Edge Than the Original".
  18. ↑ "Jordan Peele Unveils Next Horror Film 'Nope' With Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun". July 22, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Jordan Peele's next movie will be called 'Nope'". NBC News.
  20. ↑ "Mark Your Calendars! Upcoming Events at the IFA – IFAcontemporary" . Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  21. ↑ "The Institute of Fine Arts, NYU". ifa.nyu.edu.
  22. ↑ "Home". nyucuratorialcollaborative.org.
  23. ↑ "80WSE Gallery". 80WSE Gallery.
  24. ↑ "Ox-Bow". Ox-Bow.
  25. ↑ "2016 Summer Catalog" (PDF). squarespace.com. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
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