Conceptual | Chris Cook Artist

Untitled – Man Reaching

When my dad originally introduced me to these paper paintings, he described them as an outlet when he could not think of something to put on canvas. Dad uses these paintings to express his feelings and his current emotions, on paper, he can do this in a casual manner. I have always been in awe of people who can express their thoughts or feelings using art, music, or words. This painting in particular would be something that I would paint to express my feelings more than I am comfortable admitting.

I imagine the man in this painting to be a confident man only moments before this picture was captured. Confidence is built on a foundation of past successes and trust in your ability to continue your success. However, sometimes this confidence can be shaken or even vanish, the foundation falling away leaving the individual feeling naked and afraid. The man has lost the ground he was standing on and is now grasping for air, anything to keep him afloat.

This painting does not show what led this man to his demise, but offers us clues into the path that he took. There seem to be black scratches all along the man’s arm. The man has gone down a path that has left him scars across his arms, but based on the amount of scratches, he seems to have ignored the pain or ignored the ability to change paths. If he is anything like me, I assume the man blamed the world for these scratches, not beleiveing that he couldve made a mistkae in his direction in life. The “confident” man does not admit wrongdoing or failure, he has constructed a world where he is all knowing and the world was created for his success. Maybe I’m dramatic, probably am.

When you look at the man, you feel a sort of sympathy for where he has placed himself. His face is a look of innocent shock, mouth agape, eyes bulging and raised eyebrows. The man has become a boy again, unsure of what will happen next. The blue shirt helps us sympathize with the character, but also makes the man appear young and innocent.

One thing in this painting that I am completely unsure of are the black dots. They seem to originate from the left side of the man’s face, as if to show the abyss he is slowly falling into. The black dots in the white space are the beginnings of the darkness that will soon surround the man.

“If time frightens us, this is because it works out the problem and the solution comes afterwards.”

So the man is wearing a watch with a t-shirt, so either he is trying to look good or he really cares about time. Trying to figure out why my dad put that watch in the painting has taken me some time. With movies, books or paintings, I’ve always been curious whether the artist/author/movie director does every little thing for a “symbol” or some things are just done because, why not? In this instance, i have decided that my dad placed the watch in there for a reason.

The watch and falling at the same time makes me immediately think “your time is up”.

The falling coinciding with the watch signifies to me that time is up, that the man has lost his chance for life as he knows it, as he is heading to his demise. He can’t save himself, he was given warnings, and he ignored them. We cannot see where he is falling, nothing but a white abyss of nothingness. But nothingness may be a worse punishment than hell for this man. Because when he is by himself, alone, he has to face himself. He realizes that he is his own problem, the world has its own problems sure, but he was the one that led himself to his own demise.

So now what? Is the man in our painting’s life over? The painting does not show anything for the man to grab, no way to get back up to reality or life. But I guess we could suppose there are a couple alternatives. The color of the shirt for the man is blue, a calming and peaceful color. Imagine if the shirt color had been red, the character would be harder to be sympathetic to. The character’s facial expression shows a shock towards his current fate. His mouth is agape and his eyes are bulging with raised eyebrows. The face is gentle and innocent, as if the man has become clueless.

“Only it takes time to be happy. A lot of time. Happiness, too, is a long patience.”

Carter Atchison

Rich Young Ruler

RELATED SCRIPTURES:
Matthew 19:16-22
Matthew 6:21
1 Timothy 6:10
James 5:1-6

In all of these passages, the Bible seems to discussing our attitude about money and how it can capture and swallow us up. Paul clearly says “the LOVE of Money” not “Money” is the root of all kinds of evil.

First, we should eliminate what He did not mean. Jesus was not teaching that the way to get to heaven is to live a life of poverty in this world. Scripture is clear that salvation is by grace through faith, not of works and independent of one’s financial status. The rich aren’t always last in heaven, and the poor aren’t always first. Nor will believers who enjoy wealth and prestige on earth be required to somehow be abased in heaven. Earthly rank will not automatically translate into an inverse heavenly rank. (from this blog)

A good example that illustrates that earning money and becoming wealthy is not always a sentence of being a slave to money is Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven book series – who began to reverse tithe, giving 90% away and keeping the 10%.

The rich young man claimed to be righteous, and so wanted to know what thing to do to guarantee eternal life. He thought the kingdom could be earned this way. Jesus’ response was designed to probe how righteous he actually was–did he obey the letter of the law only, or the spirit as well?–and to show him the true way to eternal life. The instruction to sell all and follow Christ was designed to reveal that the man treasured his earthly possessions more than the heavenly hope. (source)

Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

In the painting I wasn’t trying to make any statement what so ever about money; the love for money, being rich, judging others on how much or little money they have… What I was wanting to conceptualize was – when we “walk away” from an important encounter/event/situation, we often look back as we walk away… sometimes we figuratively look back many years later, in our minds… either way, I painted Jesus still standing there waiting, ready to have us back!

A few more things about the painting itself. You would assume that “a rich young ruler” would be adorned in jewelry and fine clothes as he approached Jesus, I painted him as Jesus sees him without the worldly adornment. I painted a subtle frame around the rich young ruler to symbolize the self as center of the world. He is walking into the darkness away from the light, his leg is already going dark.

Thank You,
Chris Cook

Pop Up Gallery for Christmas 2019

Carter Atchison along with Tori Pirtle of Madison, GA teamed up to present the art of Chris Cook in an empty store front offered to Chris by the store owner. The storefront had been empty for several years – but this Christmas season, Carter Atchison and Tori Pirtle headed the project from picking art to hang, all the social media, marketing, adding all art to Etsy for sale planning a Soirée to invite everyone for a preview.

New paintings were created for this temporary gallery and many works not seen in any exhibits by the artist were selected so that our faithful attendees will see new, unseen works.

Below are some of the social media work from Carter Atchison and Tori Pirtle created…

We are pleased to announce the opening reception for “Holiday Pop Up Gallery” on Friday, December 13th from 5-8pm. The exhibition is being hosted by Ishmael Bowman and features art work from local artist Chris Cook.

Enjoy the art work and refreshments such as wine, beer, and assorted snacks. Part of the proceeds will go to benefit Companion Animal Rescue, a nonprofit organization.

Check out some of the artwork that will be on display at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChrisCookArtist

AND

The Pop Up Gallery is officially open! Come visit from 12-4pm Tuesday-Saturday, and we’ll be opening at 10am this Saturday for the Tour of Homes!

There only a few days left for viewing this body of work – come down to 207 W. Jefferson Street in downtown Madison, GA across from Town Park. If it seems closed – look at the sign on the front door to contact Carter Atchison for a viewing.

Thank You,

Carter Atchison

O’keeffe Dream

This painting was created by Chris for the Farm show here in Madison. He decided to paint 5 different paintings in 5 different ways, and Georgia O’keeffe’s style was one that he picked. This painting truly embodies the way in which Georgia O’keeffe painted. The deer skull mimics that of “Ram’s Head”; in addition, the colors and swirling patterns in the background are also similar between the two paintings. However, Chris creates his own Madison, Georgia spin on the painting. Instead of the painting being reminiscent of New Mexico, it truly gives a country, rustic feel that a farm represents. What’s more rustic than a deer skull? In addition, the silos are gray and mundane, yet the green grass makes them pop. The red beneath the silos reminds me of rusted metal that you often find on buildings in rural areas.

I also feel like the juxtaposition of the gray and blue in the background is representative of a storm passing, and the blue clear sky is coming into focus. This clear blue sky seems more hopeful and happy to me rather than the dreary gray clouds.

This painting just stands out to me for some reason, but I can’t place a pin on exactly why. The colors are so vivid and bright, and I believe this might be part of the reason.

-Tori

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Three Worlds: Heaven, Earth & Hell

Three Worlds: Heaven, Earth & Hell

This painting took a while to paint; it has complexity and depth. The viewer has to take some time to pull it all in, but the idea for this painting only took a question from my youngest son to take life.

On our way home from church one Sunday, Elijah, our youngest child leaned forward from the back seat and asked, “Dad, have you ever painted the three worlds?”

We had been to see several really interesting Marvel movies together including Thor and Avengers: Infinity War, and I thought at first he meant something from those movies like Thor and Asgard or the many worlds visited in Avengers: Infinity War. But, it was a simple question from what he has learned from being in church, Confirmation, Youth and Sunday School, he meant Heaven, Earth and Hell.

The very next time in my studio, I selected a tall and narrow canvas and divided it into three sections. I did a small sketch and came up with the main compositional element designed to draw the viewers eye in certain directions and in certain ways to get them through the main idea of the three worlds that I had in my mind once he asked the question. Stay with me a little longer. I made a zig zag shape taking through the three sections.

In the upper right, I placed God, from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco, in the Creation section, where God is reaching down almost touching his beloved creation, Adam. He reaches down into the Earth section (mid left) of my painting and instead of Adam, he is touching “the second Adam”, Jesus. Jesus being here on earth in human form, his death and resurrection were known from the beginning but took place on our earth at a specific time on earth. Pretty monumental to us here on earth.

At Jesus on the cross we see Judas on his hands and knees reaching down in the the third section, Hell, to get his silver for betraying Jesus, but in this painting, he is drawn to and receiving his silver directly from the Devil himself. This chain of real events and compositional elements takes you quickly through all three worlds. I used the “serpent” facing back to the left to push your eye back into the painting again. After that, you are on your own to look where you want and take in all the detail.

I mixed the use of famous and more obscure vintage and renaissance paintings with elements/characters/figures that I just made up in my imagination (like Judas – just added it from imagination of a man on his knees and what that may look like).

A few more details you may want to look for:

In Heaven, I have Peter & Paul in the middle under Jesus’ feet. The Jesus with the nail holes in his hand with the earth as his foot stool came from an older painting called Christ the Redeemer. I added Elijah (after the our son for sure – as he sparked the painting with his question) on the left, Abraham is hard to see but just to the right of the two angles looking down at the central figure of Jesus. Moses is on the right with the ten commandments behind his shoulder.

In Earth, I painted themes like Love, Music, Worship, animal and plant life along with us humans – but a tank for war, people fleeing and those of us that are simply just too busy to really think about anything more than our immediate lives. I do have pieces like the flying German planes coming up from Hell.

In Hell, I worked in a mix of things that came to my mind along with references in the Bible about Hell. For instance, the Bible had Jesus saying “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” AND “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Some things there came from renaissance painting references as well as things that I personally consider evil, that have caused much suffering and unnecessary loss of life and the grief that comes from that.

Hope you will take the time to really study this painting and “thank you little buddy for the awesome question you asked that got this whole thing started!”

-Chris

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Devices

When I first saw this painting, it immediately made me think of the heavy reliance on technology that is present in today’s society. Whether it be checking email, social media, or texting back someone, almost everyone you see in public is on their phone at some point or another. I realize the importance of technology and the aid it brings in completing everyday activities, but there comes a time when these devices inhibit our interactions with our peers.

Chris Cook clearly paints this point in his Devices painting. All of the people in this painting are so consumed by the content on their phones that they are not interacting with each other. Therefore, this painting proves that a change is in order for everyone and their addiction to their phones. The background of this painting is more abstract and blurry as if the girls are not able to see the world around them because they are engrossed by their phones. Why not try putting the phone down so that you can actually talk with the people you are with? Time is more well spent when you can actually hold a conversation in person with someone rather than texting them with them being right near you. So I challenge everyone to get off their devices for at least 30 minutes to an hour a day so you can actually connect with the ones you are with. The relationships and friends that you have will become that much stronger by this, and you won’t have to charge your phone as much 🙂

-Tori

Land of the free…

The stars and stripes have always stood for so much to so many people.

To some, they are a reminder of the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

For others, they are a battle flag, a representation of why they volunteered to serve in the military…the reason that they fought.

For some, it reminds them that they live in a nation of freedom from persecution and terror.

For others, it serves as a brutal reminder that the established order of government operates and exists on a plane much larger than any one citizen might hope to ever influence or change.

And still, others see the Red, White, and Blue banner as a representation of everything that is wrong with American society today; citing big brother, government conspiracies, the eye in the sky, racism, classism, hatred, etc. that continue to divide these “United States” of America.

Regardless of what comes to mind when you see the American flag, there is no doubt that it represents much more than simply an assembly of people from 50 states living together on one land mass. It represents a collection of ideas, dreams, wishes, and hopes of millions of individuals who are United in their attempt to live out their own understanding of what freedom, liberty, and Justice for all means to them.

Shalom, Y’all –

Jed

Viewing Stages of a Painting, Three

This painting is from the FARM Art Show at the Madison Morgan Cultural Center in late 2014.

The show paired artist to a specific farm in Morgan County. I choose the Lambert Farm.

The original idea for this painting and all 6 paintings I did for the show, came to me after talking with Robyn, my wife about painting Lambert Farm as a number of different American Modern Artist… and I ran out to my studio and made a color pencil sketch to capture the idea quickly.

Below is the original color pencil.

This painting ended up on a 6 foot wide by 4 foot tall canvas. This is the painting in progress on the large canvas. Note the color copy of a second study I did in Adobe Illustrator taped to the upper right of the canvas for reference.

I have added details, see below. I used a gutter cover that had uniform holes in it to prevent objects from falling into your gutters to start the dot pattern in the sky… what a nightmare. I painted and repainted those dots!

Below is the finished painting that was in the FARM Art Exhibit.

Enjoy,

Chris Cook

Viewing Stages of a Painting, Two

Here is one of my favorite paintings… really love the concept of taking a Picasso painting of a Spanish tragedy and using the painting look and style to tell the story of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald on Television on the 60s.

This is the third and largest version of the painting I have made. It is 6 foot wide and 4 foot tall.

First I used the 9 grid system to transfer the underlying composition/drawing. Here I have started roughing in the painting… getting the figure and ground separated.

This next image you can see that I am defining the characters faces and bodies and making the background more solid.

Below I have added more details. The background is more formed. Notice some of the earlier details were whited out to start over.

Below is the finished painting.

This painting is not for sale – I may be dreaming, but… my idea is to donate this to the Georgia Museum in Athens, Georgia or the Morris Museum in Augusta, Georgia.

Enjoy,

Chris Cook

Painting a Painting 3 Times

Not sure if you noticed, but sometimes many artist paint the same painting multiple times. I have read that some great artist, like Robert Motherwell did this because he still felt he had to work it out, that earlier versions were maybe “not it” – was quoted saying “maybe now looking back, it could have been an earlier painting that was it”… Artist like Vincent Van Gogh painted the same painting multiple times to give one to his friend and brother but liked it enough to keep one for himself.

For me personally, this happens for several reasons.

I notice an older painting and take a renewed interest in it and paint another version of it with a fresh look at the original.
I feel that if I sell it (haha) that I might regret not having it around, so I paint another exactly like it (or as close as I can)
I want to share it with friends and/or family and (like Van Gogh) want to have one too
I looked at the original and something bugs me and I take another shot at it (like Motherwell, maybe the original was it?)
I have a wild idea that maybe a museum would want the painting and paint it larger to be more in line with the works in a museum.

The second and the last reason above is the reason is the reason for painting the theme of Ruby shooting Oswald again and again. I stuck with the original theme which was to mix Pablo Picasso’s Painting of Guernica (black and white with a little brown) with a still from the television footage (black and white) of Ruby shooting Oswald on live television. Both the painting and the images of the 60s event seemed to have something deeply in common, something that has not changed since men have been on earth – a propensity towards violence to gain power over another person or group of persons…

Maybe I paint paintings multiple times because… I can?

Chris Cook