Ron Cooper: Lightworks

Ron Cooper is a few years younger than the light saber wielding Jedi warriors, James Turrell, Doug Wheeler and Robert Irwin. Irwin speaks about the distinction between the Fetishistic sculptures of Larry Bell or Peter Alexander as the “image” moving out of the “frame” by the Light and Space practitioners.

A transparent vertical bar laboriously tinted with lacquerous layers of acidic pigment floats from the support structure, casts its diluted shadow, a delicate wash on the wall; the luminescence seemingly intensified rather than muted by the veil of plexi.

The language of Minimalism is certainly at the forefront, but conceptual explorations of optical sleight of hand are particularly potent, fortified by the restraint he uses to achieve these effects with economy of means. He is much more aligned with The Museum of Jurassic Technology1 than the Imaginers2 at Disney. It is always the fragility of human gesture that unleashes the poetry; Technology’s clubfoot, the extinguisher of verse.

1. The Museum’s catalog includes a mixture of artistic, scientific as well as some unclassifiable exhibits, and evokes the cabinets of curiosities

Cooper treats the industrial fluorescent light fixture, each gelled in a pallet of brilliant hues, unleashing a melodious progression of color; the formal grace, accentuating its geometry with its pairing of simple panes of glass inserted at 4 inch intervals.

that were the 18th century predecessors of modern natural history museums. The factual claims of many of the Museum’s exhibits strain credulity.

2. Walt Disney Imagineering is the master planning, creative development, design, engineering, production, project management, and research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company and its affiliates. Representing more than 150 disci-

Two precisely focused beams of light cross each other in mid-flight, their impact conjures a cubic sculpture of light hovering in space.

plines, its talented corps of Imaginers is responsible for the creation of Disney resorts, theme parks and attractions, hotels, water parks, real estate developments, regional entertainment venues, cruise ships and new media technology projects.

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THATISNOTHERE 1972 | NEON AND FLUORESCENT LIGHT | 8 X 96 X 5 INCHES

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1973 | GLASS AND FLUORESCENT LIGHT | 48 X 240 X 24 INCHES

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OF LIGHT 1972 | TUNGSTEN LIGHT, HAZE, AND COLOR FILTERS | DIMENSIONS VARIABLE

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BAR SERIES

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Vertical Bar (Green to Violet) 2012 Lacquer and nacreous pigment, transparant dyes on plexiglass 96 x 3.625 x 3.625 inches

Vertical Bar (Warm to Green) 2012 Lacquer and nacreous pigment, transparant dyes on plexiglass 96 x 3.625 x 3.625 inches

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Vertical Bar (Violet to Blue) 2012 Lacquer and nacreous pigment, transparant dyes on plexiglass 96 x 3.625 x 3.625 inches

Vertical Bar (Green to Violet) 2012 Lacquer and nacreous pigment, transparant dyes on plexiglass 84 x 3.625 x 3.625 inches

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Violet Vertical Bar 1982 Polyester resin, fiberglass, pigment, transparent and mirrored plexiglass 84 x 5 x 3.625 inches

Vertical Bar (Warm Pink to Green) 2012 Plexiglass, urethane and nacreous pigment 84 x 3.625 x 3.625 inches

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CIRCULAR VOID 2012 | SILVER PLATED STEEL, COLD CATHODE, FLUORESCENT LIGHT, ELECTRIC CIRCUITRY | 3.375 X 18 INCHES DIAMETER

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358 W 20th Street, New York, NY 10011 www.nyehaus.com | 212 366 4493 This book is published in conjuntion with the exhibition: Ron Cooper: Lightworks May 5 — July 27, 2012 Design and Photography: Kyle LaMar and Kaylan George Song: The Doors ­— The End