Veil of Invisibility
2011 – present
Intervention.
Acrylic paint on museum postcards.
Dimensions variable.
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In The Best Job in the World (2021), I performed a series of interviews to Spanish artists who had abandoned art, either by their own decision, or forced by their circumstances. These conversations led me to wonder why I am still active as an artist. I also asked myself: what conditions and events occurred in the lives of the artists in Art History that could have awakened their vocation and that they could help to develop it along with their talent?
The exhibition The Origin of Forms traces these questions by relating them to the three forms of capital designated by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu – social, economic and cultural capital – as the main resources that an individual has when he or she arrives in the world. The project entails a simultaneous presentation of an ultra-intimate and personal story – in which I propose myself as the main object of study, tracing the possible causes of my vocation from the field of the psychological, the social and also the innate –, coexisting with a more objective examination of the History of Art, questioning and using the artist’s biography as a tool aiming to trace Western artistic genius in a critical way.
The latter is addressed in the large-scale installation Masters of Western Painting (2023), presenting a search I performed in the early biographies of one hundred Western dead painters – from Giotto to Paula Rego –, in official biographical sources –such as Encyclopedia Britannica –, paying special attention to the social and psychological environment in which these artists grew up. This led me to observe existing patterns such as, for example, the connections of their family members with circles of influence and power; the transmission of sensitivity; the family’s frequent opposition to the artist pursuing a career in art; their horoscope – a big majority of them being Aries or Libra –, or the encouragement of their talent by their belonging to a lineage of artists. Overlapping the wallpaper, a series of intervened museum posters showing very famous works by the selected painters hide some of the information behind them. A text in their biography has been outlined with acrylic paint in negative, encouraging the viewers to see the images through this prism.
Installed in the opposite wall of the room, there is a display of several objects related to my family that seek to trace possible origins of my artistic vocation and aptitudes, adressing the forms of capital available during my upbringing, including two amateur reproductions of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted by my parents, a drawing I made at 7, or a 1:1 floor-plan of a basement in Madrid that my father bought me as a studio.
Related Publications:
· Jeremy Cooper, Artists Postcards: A Compendium. Ed. Reaktion Books (2011).
· Postcard Narratives. Jeremy Cooper & invited artists. Ed. ROOM Artspace (2013).
· The Postcard is a Public Work of Art.Ed. X Marks the Bökship (2014).
· The World Exists To Be Put on a Postcard: Artists’ postcards from 1960 to Now. Ed. Thames & Hudson / The British Museum (2019).
· Postkartenkilometer. Artists postcards in Europe from 1960 to today. Ed. Schirmer Mosel (2023).
Exhibitions:
· The Artists´ Postcard Show (group exhibition). Spike Island (Bristol, UK, 2012).
· Postcard Narratives. Jeremy Cooper & invited artists (group exhibition). ROOM Artspace (London, UK, 2013).
· The Postcard is a Public Work of Art (group exhibition). X Marks the Bökship (London, UK, 2014).
· Wish You Were Here? (group exhibition). Cur. Jeremy Cooper. MAC Birmingham (Birmingham, UK, 2015).
· IN QUOTES (itenerant group exhibition). Cur. Ann-Marie James, Caroline Fisher. East Gallery NUA (Norwich, UK, 2017); Gerald Moore Gallery (London, UK, 2018).
· The Sleeping Procession (group exhibition). Cur. Gabriel Hartley, Sean Steadman. CASS Sculpture Foundation (West Sussex, UK, 2017).
· Art of the Postcard. Cur. Jeremy Cooper. Handel Street Projects (London, UK, 2017).
· Intervention (group exhibition). Cur. Juan José Santos. Centro de Exposiciones Subte (Montevideo, Uruguay, 2018).
· The World Exists To Be Put on a Postcard: Artists’ postcards from 1960 to Now (group exhibition). The British Museum, London, 2019).
· Postkartenkilometer. Artists postcards in Europe from 1960 to today (group exhibition) Cur. Cur. Björn Egging, Meghan McNamee. Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden, Germany, 2023).
Selected Collections:
· The British Museum, London.
· Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden.
· Fundación María José Jove, A Coruña.
· Colección EXPLUM, Puerto Lumbreras.
Credits:
Installation detail of the exhibition The Sleeping Procession, CASS Sculpture Foundation (West Sussex, UK, 2017).
Installation details of the exhibition IN QUOTES, Gerald Moore Gallery (London, UK, 2018).
Veil of Invisibility – Untitled (Leg) (2015) 10,5 x 14,8 cm. Image. Peter White.
Veil of Invisibility – Conical Intersect (2019) 10,5 x 14,8 cm. © SKD, Kupferstich-Kabinett / Image: Caterina Micksch.
General installation views of the exhibition Postkartenkilometer. Artists postcards in Europe from 1960 to today (Dresden, Germany, 2023). © SKD, Kupferstich-Kabinett / Image: Herbert Boswank.
· Jeremy Cooper, Artists Postcards: A Compendium. Ed. Reaktion Books (2011).
· Postcard Narratives. Jeremy Cooper & invited artists. Ed. ROOM Artspace (2013).
· The Postcard is a Public Work of Art.Ed. X Marks the Bökship (2014).
· The World Exists To Be Put on a Postcard: Artists’ postcards from 1960 to Now. Ed. Thames & Hudson / The British Museum (2019).
· Postkartenkilometer. Artists postcards in Europe from 1960 to today. Ed. Schirmer Mosel (2023).
Exhibitions:
· The Artists´ Postcard Show (group exhibition). Spike Island (Bristol, UK, 2012).
· Postcard Narratives. Jeremy Cooper & invited artists (group exhibition). ROOM Artspace (London, UK, 2013).
· The Postcard is a Public Work of Art (group exhibition). X Marks the Bökship (London, UK, 2014).
· Wish You Were Here? (group exhibition). Cur. Jeremy Cooper. MAC Birmingham (Birmingham, UK, 2015).
· IN QUOTES (itenerant group exhibition). Cur. Ann-Marie James, Caroline Fisher. East Gallery NUA (Norwich, UK, 2017); Gerald Moore Gallery (London, UK, 2018).
· The Sleeping Procession (group exhibition). Cur. Gabriel Hartley, Sean Steadman. CASS Sculpture Foundation (West Sussex, UK, 2017).
· Art of the Postcard. Cur. Jeremy Cooper. Handel Street Projects (London, UK, 2017).
· Intervention (group exhibition). Cur. Juan José Santos. Centro de Exposiciones Subte (Montevideo, Uruguay, 2018).
· The World Exists To Be Put on a Postcard: Artists’ postcards from 1960 to Now (group exhibition). The British Museum, London, 2019).
· Postkartenkilometer. Artists postcards in Europe from 1960 to today (group exhibition) Cur. Cur. Björn Egging, Meghan McNamee. Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden, Germany, 2023).
Selected Collections:
· The British Museum, London.
· Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden.
· Fundación María José Jove, A Coruña.
· Colección EXPLUM, Puerto Lumbreras.
Credits:
Installation detail of the exhibition The Sleeping Procession, CASS Sculpture Foundation (West Sussex, UK, 2017).
Installation details of the exhibition IN QUOTES, Gerald Moore Gallery (London, UK, 2018).
Veil of Invisibility – Untitled (Leg) (2015) 10,5 x 14,8 cm. Image. Peter White.
Veil of Invisibility – Conical Intersect (2019) 10,5 x 14,8 cm. © SKD, Kupferstich-Kabinett / Image: Caterina Micksch.
General installation views of the exhibition Postkartenkilometer. Artists postcards in Europe from 1960 to today (Dresden, Germany, 2023). © SKD, Kupferstich-Kabinett / Image: Herbert Boswank.
