Tony Cooper

In order to better support our artists, we have enlisted videographer James Dobos to shoot introductory videos which we are posting to the website to help you get better acquainted with the diverse community that makes up A Gift of Art.

Tony Cooper

A recipient of both Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council grants graduated from Ontario College of Arts in 1972, Tony Cooper has had solo and group shows in many galleries in Ontario and Quebec and in 2008 the Willisville Mountain Project began, culminating in a series of exhibits that travelled throughout northern Ontario.

Artist statement

I work physically on the land to both maintain a presence and to observe directly the changes and effects of the elements over time. I choose to document sites repeatedly building up a composite of viewpoints that attest to the dynamic experience of place. Nature as subject and medium is integrated with the body in the act of oil painting on site, under the constraint of time, personal endurance and the elements themselves. The paintings are an immediate and lively response to the environment.

For Exhibit installations, it is important for me to make configurations in relation to the exhibition space, as the immediate sense of surrounding space adds to the visceral visualization process that the work calls forth.