Derek Cowie
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Derek Cowie’s paintings are populated by everyday objects. Various domestic or utilitarian forms—a teacup, saucer, jug, book, and axe—are presented on a grand scale, at times threatening to overwhelm the viewer.
Many of these objects have appeared in Cowie’s work over several decades, to the extent that the artist has developed a kind of obscure iconography or visual system, albeit one that is endlessly and intentionally flawed.
Cowie projects his growing sense of environmental disquiet both in his oblique treatment of these objects, and more directly by painting or reflecting various scenes and warning symbols upon their surfaces.
His work is permeated by a darkly satirical playfulness and a preoccupation with dystopian realities and speculative fiction. Cowie is interested in that space between perception and reality, in the notion of the tipping point, and that which will inevitably follow.