Mel Cook is an emerging artist who lives and works in Chicago, IL. Cook produced a series of seven monotypes at Manneken Press in March of 2013 in which she combined printed imagery with collaged elements cut from colored and printed papers and fabric. In this series the artist explores space within still life and its relationship to content.
She writes:
“I am interested in how Still Life and Portraiture can function in similar ways. The figure often becomes another object within the arrangement, while the other objects such as flowers become antagonistic. When excluding the figure from the Still Life there are still notions of the figure being present; rugs, frames, windows, and tables are all designed around the scale of the human body. The figure’s presence and absence is inherent in each work. This series of work questions ideas relating to traditional Still Life and Portraiture; the notions of framing and “pictureness” of the image, the “object- ness” of whatever is within the frame, and the perception of how these concepts are related to historical means of viewing”.
Born 1986, Cleveland, OH
Lives and works in Chicago, IL
Education:
MFA, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 2012
BFA, Bowling Green State University 2009
Studio Art Centers International (SACI), Florence, Italy 2008
Exhibitions:
2018
Some Kind of Other, Yeah Maybe, Minneapolis, MN
Mother of The Clown, Mel Cook + Molly Colleen O’Connell, Roots & Culture, Chicago, IL
Women Painting Men, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, IL
The Chicago Show, 56 Downing St., Brooklyn, New York
Winter Romance, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, IL
Nothing Is Ours But Time, Ukrainian Modern Institute of Art, Chicago, IL
2017
Eyes, Nose, Lips, Etc. Etc., Left Field Gallery, San Luis Obispo, CA
Milestones, The Fine Arts Center Galleries, BGSU, Bowling Green, OH
Unfurnished, Demo Projects, Springfield, IL
Close To Me, Roots & Culture, Chicago, IL
2016
We Have A Back Room With Other Things: Mel Cook + Megan Stroech. Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
New Business, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
For Sale By Owner, Hilltop Antiques, Skowhegan, ME
2015
Things Will Be Fine, Jan Brandt Gallery, Bloomington, IL
US, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL
Time Share, Figure One Gallery, Champaign, IL
2014
Between The Void (solo show), Peoria Art Guild, Peoria, IL
2014 Faculty Biennial, University Galleries, Normal, IL
2013
Prime, Heavy Brow, Bloomington, IL
Still Life Revisited (solo show), Morton College, Cicero, IL
Mel Cook: Recent Monotypes, Manneken Press Gallery, Bloomington, IL
14th Annual Boston Print Fair (Manneken Press), The Cyclorama at The Boston Center For The Arts, Boston, MA
2012
Spookeh, Jan Brandt Gallery, Bloomington, IL
2012 Student Annual, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Sincerely, With Love, MFA Graduate Exhibition, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
The Eye That Sees The Possible, Transpace Gallery, Normal, IL
2011
Four More Than Two, Student Union Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Transitional Spaces, Subspace Gallery, Bloomington, IL
Hot Bodz, Subspace Gallery, Bloomington, IL
MFA Biennial, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
2010
2010 Student Annual, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
2009
Graduate Survey Show, Transpace Gallery, Bloomington, IL
Sexstallation, The Basement Gallery, Bowling Green, OH
Chrystalahtion, The Basement Gallery, Bowling Green, OH
Awards
2012
Irving S. Tick Award in Painting
Bibliography
Art In Print: News Of The Print World, New Editions: Mel Cook,
May 7, 2013. http://createsend.com/t/jC7DDAC3E48A81ACD