John Copeland

About this book

Veering between representation and abstraction, Copeland's paintings feature tactile, impasto surfaces, rendered in oil and acrylic paint. Professing an interest in "any arrangement that involves interaction between the figures", Copeland often situates his subjects in social settings - around a table, playfully balanced on one another's shoulders, or surveying a painting as a group. The figures remain, however, deeply ambiguous, and are set against abstract backgrounds populated by curious, amorphous shapes. The unnerving quality of the imagery is heightened by the appearance of pairs or mirrored human forms, as in The Bullet Screams Past (2015).