Cook’s work allows us into his mind and perspective on the world. The surrealist, absurd style he creates surrounding the disfigured form, expresses the concerns he has for humankind and the harsh reality of the life we live. In his work, ‘A eye’ 2024, acrylic on canvas, paints a baby in a robotic chamber, connected to mechanical appliances leading to the brain and heart in separate chambers. Through painting the baby and organs in colour while the rest remains black and neutral, highlight his concerns for mortality and the life of being born into a mechanical world.
All pieces capture a similar feel, beautiful yet disturbing, they contain a refreshing truth that we all try to ignore.
Alongside and equally encapsulating, Sweeney uses an abstract approach with her work taking a modern turn with the body and ‘Being.’ Tracy Emin but with a twist, the loose vibrant fluidity in her style of the female form differs through working materialistically with the everyday, e.g rust and fruit, conceptually drawing attention to her interest in how bodies transfer information beyond the explanation of DNA. As a mother in a lesbian relationship, she tries to expand the ways we think when it comes to queer relationships. My favourite piece, ‘Production’ 2024, beautifully portrays the stomach and legs of two women facing each other connected through fluids and ink, perhaps showing the making of her son.
Like being a mother, her work doesn't end with the final product. The artworks evolve without the hand of an artist. There is a constant state of change. The materials oxidise and fade. They change colour, a symbol of the change in relationships and emotions.
Vane shows a stunning display of painting, a medium in the conceptual art world that seems in some ways to be dying out or less respected (up to discussion). But here, it was refreshing to see the medium celebrated. The exhibition is inspiring and new, artworks which keep painting modern and relevant. Cook’s work elevates surrealism and Sweeney’s celebrates womanhood. Both provoking thought. Remaining raw and truthful, characteristics we all need in the ever-changing life we experience daily.
You can visit the exhibition until the 5th of April.