Emma cc Cook: Manners, Hayseed
12.26 is pleased to present Manners, Hayseed, the inaugural exhibition of Emma cc Cook athe gallery's Dallas location. Cook presents an exhibition that delves deep into personal and collective history, memory, and environmental consciousness.
Cook’s work is rooted in her upbringing on her family’s farm in the Midwest, where she witnessed firsthand the transformation of rural landscapes into vast monocultures. Drawing inspiration from her surroundings, Cook's paintings offer a poignant reflection on the interplay between serenity and chaos, tranquility and turmoil. Cook skillfully crafts a narrative that speaks to the complexities of American history and the collective memories embedded within. These are not traditional landscape paintings; vignettes from memories flutter across the canvas to break up homogenous agricultural terrain, infusing each painting with harmonious chaos.
Manners, Hayseed brings a new sense of intimacy in Cook’s work, as the artist reckons with her nomadic upbringing and experience of constant movement while finding her sense of belonging in Los Angeles. Through subtle infusions of color, tonal variations, and manipulation of space and perspective, Cook reflects on the landscapes that shaped her personhood growing up. Distance allows room to process, and these works create space for introspection, inviting viewers to engage with the landscapes of their past while in their present. She leaves us vulnerable against questions unanswered: What is your landscape identity? Is it something you grew up in, are present in, inspired by? And even further, how can you claim land?
Emma cc Cook (b. 1989, Minneapolis, USA) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated with a BFA in painting from University of Minnesota and studied classical realism at the Angel Academy in Florence, Italy. Recent solo exhibitions include Dibbler stick, Adams & Ollman, Portland, Oregon (2023); Pilgrim, Public Gallery, London, England (2022); Flags, Moskowitz Bayse, Los Angeles, California (2022); Peeping Tom, Et Al, Mission, San Francisco, California (2022); Milkman Pigeon, Half Gallery, New York, New York (2021). Recent group exhibitions include A Sofa Under My Painting, Pio Pico, Los Angeles, California (2023), Stress tested (co-curated by the artist), Public Gallery, London, UK (2022); and Resting Point of Accommodation, Almine Rech, Brussels, Belgium (2021). Select residencies include New York School of the Arts at Vytacil and Campos de Gutierrez in Medellin, Colombia. Emma received the MSAB grant, the Carter Prize in Painting and the Gay M. Grossman Memorial Scholarship.
Cook’s work is rooted in her upbringing on her family’s farm in the Midwest, where she witnessed firsthand the transformation of rural landscapes into vast monocultures. Drawing inspiration from her surroundings, Cook's paintings offer a poignant reflection on the interplay between serenity and chaos, tranquility and turmoil. Cook skillfully crafts a narrative that speaks to the complexities of American history and the collective memories embedded within. These are not traditional landscape paintings; vignettes from memories flutter across the canvas to break up homogenous agricultural terrain, infusing each painting with harmonious chaos.
Manners, Hayseed brings a new sense of intimacy in Cook’s work, as the artist reckons with her nomadic upbringing and experience of constant movement while finding her sense of belonging in Los Angeles. Through subtle infusions of color, tonal variations, and manipulation of space and perspective, Cook reflects on the landscapes that shaped her personhood growing up. Distance allows room to process, and these works create space for introspection, inviting viewers to engage with the landscapes of their past while in their present. She leaves us vulnerable against questions unanswered: What is your landscape identity? Is it something you grew up in, are present in, inspired by? And even further, how can you claim land?
Emma cc Cook (b. 1989, Minneapolis, USA) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated with a BFA in painting from University of Minnesota and studied classical realism at the Angel Academy in Florence, Italy. Recent solo exhibitions include Dibbler stick, Adams & Ollman, Portland, Oregon (2023); Pilgrim, Public Gallery, London, England (2022); Flags, Moskowitz Bayse, Los Angeles, California (2022); Peeping Tom, Et Al, Mission, San Francisco, California (2022); Milkman Pigeon, Half Gallery, New York, New York (2021). Recent group exhibitions include A Sofa Under My Painting, Pio Pico, Los Angeles, California (2023), Stress tested (co-curated by the artist), Public Gallery, London, UK (2022); and Resting Point of Accommodation, Almine Rech, Brussels, Belgium (2021). Select residencies include New York School of the Arts at Vytacil and Campos de Gutierrez in Medellin, Colombia. Emma received the MSAB grant, the Carter Prize in Painting and the Gay M. Grossman Memorial Scholarship.
