Courttney Cooper

About Courttney
Courttney Cooper started coming to Visionaries and Voices in early 2004. Here he quickly made a name for himself as a remarkable artist generating exquisite work, driven by self-motivation. He is recognized for creating large 3-D aerial views of Greater Cincinnati. These maps take form on pieces of paper he glues together, adding space as he needs it to draw out the obsessive, highly detailed, tapestry-like ink drawings of Cincinnati neighborhoods with his 'Bic' pens. Courttney often walks the streets of the city, committing all the places he visits down to memory. This is a unique and astounding process that he has been using since he was a child. Each of his drawings includes current construction and demolition sites, as well as many personal additions expressing current seasons, events, and projects going on locally. Through out the sprawling maps are written thoughts and phrases hidden beneath the landscape and revealed within the open white space of the paper. Courttney's pictorial portrayal of the city through a fine clustering of lines and detail create a unique and awe inspired image of his surroundings. Cooper's other work ranges from watercolor and acrylic paintings to intricate pen drawings of various sizes. The main subject matter of this body ranges from schools of fish to train yards to Courtney's "Superfriends", a team of superheroes often grouped near a Cincinnati landmark such as Union Terminal. Collages of smiling kids are a testament to Courttney's love of children, whom he considers "precious" and worthy of great care and kindness. Courttney's story is currently being made into a motion picture.


Exhibitions
Currently, 4 drawings are on exhibition at Joseph Williams Home. www.josephwilliamshome.com

Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; ArtWorks, Nicholas Gallery, Voltage, Univerosty Galleries on Sycamore, Visionnati I and II, The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Covington, KY; Good Fold Festival, Louisville, KY; Slotin Fold Festival, Atlanta, GA; Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal (in conjunction with the Terminals 75th anniversary); Banner and Ross Gallery in "Wild Life: Animals, Landscapes, and Skin;" Superheroes Show at Red Tree Gallery, and Joseph Williams Home.