rebecca campbell: love

Rebecca Campbell

Rebecca Campbell

LOVE

Jonathan Cooper

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Love can be tough. It can be infuriating. It can be obsessive. Love has destroyed empires, and unraveled the best laid

schemes of mice and men. And yet, and yet...

Love fuels us. It provides a glimmer of hope in the darkness, the spark of joy that gives us a reason to get up

in the morning. Love drives us through life. It has inspired painters and poets, musicians and writers, throughout

the ages, and across the globe. To an artist as brimming with ideas and imagination as Rebecca Campbell, it

provides endless opportunities to explore its multi-faceted influence on our lives.

Love is both an all-encompassing and startlingly ambiguous word, a far cry from the varied and precise lexicon of

Ancient Greek, with its Agape and Eros. The phrase ‘I love you’ can be a long-awaited milestone in a new relationship,

or uttered without hesitation between friends and family.

This exhibition is a homage to the myriad forms of love, its universal and timeless reach, from the ancient world and Renaissance Italy to the golden age of Hollywood, through India and China. It is a journey through passion and despair, the agony and anticipation of courtship, and the bitter-sweet memory of lost love. Rebecca has travelled widely, and the rich pictorial language of her work testifies to its diverse cultural inspirations, from Mughal miniatures to contemporary art, literature and music. It began, as all love affairs do, with temptation: the first painting in this new series of work fittingly sets the scene in the Garden of Eden, with the perils of forbidden fruit, and ends with Signed, Sealed, Delivered, a tribute to love in the digital age. From familial love to illicit trysts, these paintings provide a visual soundtrack to our existence, and in them one message is clear: while the language of love might be changing, romance never dies.

LOVE

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVEoil on linen 50 × 61 cm | 19.5 × 24 ins

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THE TEMPTRESSoil on linen 97 × 130.5 cm | 38 × 51.5 ins

left

SAY IT WITH FLOWERSoil on linen 65 × 54 cm | 25.5 × 21.25 ins

right

OBSESSIONoil on linen 60 × 73 cm | 23.5 × 28.74 ins

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MOONLIGHT TRYSToil on linen 65 × 81 cm | 25.59 × 31.88 ins

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FORGET ME NOToil on linen 24 × 33 cm | 9.5 × 13 ins

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CRAZY IN LOVEoil on linen 24 × 35 cm | 9.5 × 13.77 ins

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OPPOSITES ATTRACToil on linen 54 × 65 cm | 21.25 × 25.59 ins

MORNING MANTRAoil on linen 55 × 46 cm | 21.5 × 18 ins

A DALLIANCE WITH DALIoil on linen 61 × 50 cm | 24 × 19.5 ins

THE ARTIST’S MUSEoil on linen 89 × 116 cm | 35 × 45.5 ins

left

THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTHoil on linen 73 × 60 cm | 28.74 × 23.5 ins

right

THE KISSoil on linen 46 × 55 cm | 18 × 21.5 ins

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left

LOVES ME - LOVES ME NOT - LOVES MEoil on linen 65 × 54 cm | 25.5 × 21.25 ins

right

THE COURTSHIPoil on linen 73 × 92 cm | 28.74 × 36.22 ins

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left

THE DUELoil on linen 25 × 20 cm | 9.75 × 7.75 ins

right

WE ARE FAMILYoil on linen 61 × 73 cm | 24 × 28.74 ins

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THE GODDESSoil on linen 54 × 65 cm | 21.25 × 25.5 ins

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVERoil on linen 45.5 × 35.5 cm | 18 × 14 ins

LITERARY LOVESoil on linen 65 × 54 cm | 25.5 × 21.25 ins

WINGS OF A DOVEoil on linen 54 × 65 cm | 21.25 × 25.5 ins

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WHEREFORE ART THOU ?oil on linen 73 × 92 cm | 28.74 × 36.25 ins

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ETERNITYoil on linen 65 × 81 cm | 25.5 × 31.75 ins

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EXHIBITIONS

SOLO 2016, 14, 12, 10, 08, 06, 04, 02 Jonathan Cooper, London2015, 13, 11, 07, 05 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford, Oxfordshire2010 Morton Kuehnert, Houston, Texas, USA2008 Louis C Morton, la Casa de Subastas, Mexico City, Mexico2005 Chelsea Art Gallery, San Francisco, USA

GROUP2015 BADA, Jonathan Cooper, London2014 20/21 British Art Fair, Jonathan Cooper, London Art Toronto, Loch Gallery, Canada2013 Celebrating 25 Years, Jonathan Cooper, London 20/21 British Art Fair, Jonathan Cooper, London2012 Celebrating 40 Years, Brian Sinfield, Burford, Oxfordshire2011 Coutts Bank, Oxford2010 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Loch Gallery, Toronto2009 Art London, Jonathan Cooper, London Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford, Oxfordshire2007 BADA, Jonathan Cooper, London2006 Byard Art, Cambridge2005 Discerning Eye, Invited Artist, Mall Galleries, London Byard Art, Cambridge

REBECCA CAMPBELL

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PUBLIC2015 Travels To My Elephant, London2014 RHS, Chelsea Flower Show, London2012 BT Artbox, London Fabergé Big Egg Hunt, London2011 Jungle City, Edinburgh2010 Elephant Parade, London

AWARD AND HONOURS2015 Ambassador, Elephant Family

2005 Discerning Eye – Chairman’s Purchase Prize

COMMERCIAL COMMISSIONSThe Art File, Art Group; Boots; Canns Down Press; Contrast Gallery, Hong Kong; Hall Barn Nursery; Henri Bendel, New York; The Fife Show, Scotland; Lotte Company Calendar, South Korea 2014; Mazepoint: McKinsey & Co., London; Museum & Galleries Publishing; Paperchase, London; Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon; Saks Fifth Avenue, New York; Shellys Shoes, London; Sheraton Hotel, Ethiopia; St Geroge’s Hospital Essex; Stewo,

Switzerland; WHSmith; Woodmansterne Publishing

BOOKS/MAGAZINES/PRESSDecorative Frames by Juliet BawdenMurals: Trompe l’Oeil and Decorative Wall Painting, by Lynette WrigleyArt Buyer (cover); Artists and Illustrators; BBC News, Scotland; BBC Homes and Antiques; BBC Radio 4; Books and Life, South Korea; Cassone; Country Life; Country and Town House; Fabric; The Foodie Bugle; Harpers & Queen; Homes & Gardens; Kitchens, Bedrooms & Bathrooms; Matchbox; Leisure Painter; Period Living; Southwest Magazine, London; The Sunday Telegraph; V&A Magazine; The Resident, The Lady; Oxford Times; Palo Alto Weekly, USA; Slightly Foxed (cover); De Tuin Exclusif, Holland; The WeekImages have been used on several book covers.

EDUCATION1984 – 1987 City & Guilds of London Art School, London Illustrative Arts – Ist Class Honours

Commissions undertaken

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above

SIGNED SEALED DELIVEREDoil on linen 18× 25.5 cm | 7 × 10 ins

Jonathan Cooper 20 Park Walk London SW10 0AQ t: +44 (0)20 7351 0410 mail@jonathancooper.co.uk jonathancooper.co.uk

inside front cover and right (detail)

LITERARY LOVESoil on linen 65 × 54 cm | 25.5 × 21.25 ins

Introduction by Rebecca Wall Photographs of paintings by Andra NelkiPhotograph of Rebecca Campbell by Ken LongCatalogue © Jonathan Cooper, London 2016

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Jonathan Cooper