Juxtapoz Magazine - Opening Night Photos: Jeff Soto x Dave Cooper at Jonathan LeVine

Opening Night Photos: Jeff Soto x Dave Cooper at Jonathan LeVine

Juxtapoz // Wednesday, 07 Jul 2010

Lifecycle, is the exhibition by California based artist Jeff Soto. On the other side of the gallery, we see Mangle, new drawings and paintings of twisted ladies, by Ottawa-based artist Dave Cooper.

As the show title suggests, works in Lifecycle refer to birth, death, and the voyage in between. The artist’s interest in time, mortality, fatherhood and generational relationships—within his own family and humankind in general—are explored through visual metaphors and symbolism.

Through the challenging, disturbing quality of the imagery in Mangle, Cooper continues to explore themes of libido, hedonism, body image, fantasy, and ambiguity with refined skill and technique. The shapes of these nude or scantily clad figures are often exaggeratedly lumpy, with large heads, bulging eyes, shiny red cheeks and toothy grins. They interact with one another in ways that appear disturbingly violent, suggestively sensual, or both, implying bizarre narratives of perverse scenarios and intense human drama.

Make sure to read our interview with Jeff Soto here, where he talks more in-depth about Lifecycle.

A look at Car Crash by Jeff Soto