Barrie Cook
{{Short description|British abstract artist (1929–2020)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{for|the English-born Irish abstract expressionist painter|Barrie Cooke}}
Barrie Cook (1929 – 13 July 2020) was a British abstract artist who lived and worked on The Lizard in Cornwall, England.{{Cite web|url=http://www.artcornwall.org/features/Barrie_Cook_Alex_Wade.htm|title=artcornwall.org: Barrie Cook by Alex Wade|website=www.artcornwall.org}}
His works are held in national collections including Tate, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, The Arts Council & the Government Art Collection.{{Art UK bio}} and he had regularly exhibited in individual and group shows.{{Cite web|url=https://www.falmouthartgallery.com/Exhibitions/2017/1301~Take_a_step_closer_Barrie_Cook|title=Take a step closer: Barrie Cook | Falmouth Art Gallery|website=www.falmouthartgallery.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://lemonstreetgallery.co.uk/artists/barrie-cook/|title=Barrie Cook|website=lemonstreetgallery.co.uk}}
He taught at Coventry College of Art, Cardiff College of Art, Birmingham Polytechnic and the University of Wales. He was Head of Department at Stourbridge College of Art on the 1970s.
Biography
Born in Birmingham in 1929, Cook served in the Army during World War II. He married Mary, in Birmingham in 1951 whilst a student at Birmingham College of Art (1949–1954). Cook began teaching immediately after leaving College. His final teaching post was at the University of Wales in Cardiff, after which he moved to Cornwall in 1992.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bmagic.org.uk/|title=Welcome to BMAGiC - Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery Information Centre|website=www.bmagic.org.uk}}
Cook's influences included Mark Rothko, Patrick Heron, Terry Frost, and Bridget Riley. He pioneered the use of air brushing as a painterly medium{{Cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/airbrushing|title=Airbrushing – Art Term|website=Tate}} and considers his paintings 'opportunity for meditation'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bmagic.org.uk/objects/1987P1/|title=Oil Painting - Dean - Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery Information Centre|website=www.bmagic.org.uk}} Many paintings begin from photographs that capture play of light or movement. For example, work created whilst living in Cardiff was meant to represent the passing of car headlights through the well-lit area he lived in.Barrie Cook 2013 , Exhibition catalogue curated by Marie Louise Jones, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro Many paintings are abstract patterns that could be considered 'Op Art' because of the hypnotising and disorienting effect they have on your eyesight. Cook often produced a series of works, one of which was 'Continuum' 1967–1971 four paintings of which hung at the Serpentine Gallery forming an exhibition in 1988.{{cite web |url=http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/barrie-cook-four-paintings-1967%E2%80%9371 |title=Barrie Cook: Four Paintings 1967–71 {{!}} Serpentine Galleries |website=www.serpentinegalleries.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092934/http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/barrie-cook-four-paintings-1967%E2%80%9371 |archive-date=2016-03-04}}
Cook had continued to work in his studio, a converted Chapel in Ruan Minor, Cornwall, every day. He often re-visited older pieces experimenting with variations.
Artworks in notable collections:
Government Art Collection Hot Rod, 1977 and No. 2 Untitled 1976{{Cite web |url=http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?obj=26849 |title=Government Art Collection - Art Work Details |access-date=11 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203753/http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?obj=26849 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}
Tate Gallery Painting, 1970{{Cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/cook-painting-t01576|title='Painting', Barrie Cook, 1970|website=Tate}}
Birmingham Gallery of Art Dean, 1977,
MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) Wales is on until November 2015http://mwtcymru.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/exhibition-of-barrie-cooks-work-opens.html {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}}
Cook is listed on the Cornwall Artist Index,{{Cite web|url=https://cornwallartists.org/cornwall-artists/barrie-cook|title=Barrie COOK | Cornwall Artists Index|website=cornwallartists.org}} review of his last exhibition in London {{Cite web |url=http://www.1883magazine.com/art-exhibitions/art-exhibition/barrie-cook |title=Barrie Cook - 1883 Magazine |access-date=21 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194517/http://www.1883magazine.com/art-exhibitions/art-exhibition/barrie-cook |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}
Personal life
Cook and his wife Mary lived in Mullion and had two children, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
They were active members of the community, taking part in local horticultural shows and supporting local establishments. Both their children are now retired; his daughter was a teacher specialising in play in primary school education and his son worked as a publisher.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}
Barrie Cook died on 13 July 2020, aged 91. His wife outlived him by only two days, dying on 15 July.{{Cite web|url=https://lemonstreetgallery.co.uk/news/obituary-barrie-cook/|title=Obituary: Barrie Cook|website=lemonstreetgallery.co.uk}}
His Mullion home is now owned by Josh Widdicombe and his wife Rose Hanson {{Cite web|url= https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tqGx5cHiXn0|title=Inside Josh Widdicombe and Rose Hanson’s luxurious family house in Cornwall|website=youtube.com}}
References
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