Jack Cocker

Biography

Jack Cocker

London, ON emerging artist Jack Cocker (born 2001) grew up in Norwich, ON.  After graduating from high school, he attended H.B. Beal Secondary School in London.  In June 2024 he graduates from Western University with his BFA, Honours Specialization in Studio Art.

Recent group exhibitions include “Allegory”, artLAB Gallery and “Goodness, Present and Hallowed”, artLAB Vitrine at Western University in 2023.

Currently in his practice, Jack uses figurative and landscape painting to explore imagery familiar to him in South-Western Ontario, Canada, concentrating on ideas such as genuineness, connection, spirit, memory, and the specific notes of culture that intrigue him from the area. The subjects he chooses to paint, which often stem from a fragment of an image like a figure or a landmark, a memory, or a story he’s heard, spark a prolonged curiosity which demands they be explored through painting, leading to them growing and changing throughout the process of arriving at the finished picture. Oftentimes, these subjects are those Jack is very familiar with, usually by some sort of personal connection, giving the paintings an autobiographical undertone. While the image and its backstory remain important to him, what captures his interest in the first place is the process of negotiating the image with paint and his imagination in creating a picture that continues to make painting challenging and deeply rewarding for him.

Selected Works

Exhibitions

Jack Cocker

July 4 - August 2 - 2024

Jack Cocker “Holiday From Real”

For his 2nd solo exhibition at MGG, emerging artist Jack Cocker has created a groundbreaking suite of new paintings exploring his interest of "the figure in the landscape".

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Jack Cocker

July 6 - July 29 - 2023

Jack Cocker “Round Here”

July exhibition of new figurative paintings by Jack Cocker that confront ideas such as genuineness, connection, spirit and memory.

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Curriculum Vitae

BORN

2001 Woodstock, ON
Lives in London, ON

EDUCATION

2024  Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honours Specialization in Studio Art, Western University
2019  Bealart Foundations, H.B. Beal Secondary School

EXHIBITIONS

2024 “Holiday From Real”, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON (solo)
2024 UPwithART Auction 2024, Museum London
2024 Sincerely, John Labatt Visual Arts Centre, Western University
2024 Annual Juried Exhibition 22, Western University

2023  “Round Here”, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON (solo)
2023 The Paradox of Progress, John Labatt Visual Arts Centre, Western University
2023 Allegory, John Labatt Visual Arts Centre, Western University
2023  “Sustain.Ability”, University Community Centre, Western University, London, ON
2023 “Annual Juried Exhibition 21”, Western University, London, ON (3rd place prize)
2023  “Goodness, Present & Hallowed”, ArtLab Gallery Vitrine, Western University, London, ON
2023  “Nuit Violette: Utopia”, Western University, London, ON

2022 “When I hear ART, I think of…”, University Community Centre, Western University, London, ON
2022  “Objectlings, Thinglings, Wildlings, John Labatt Visual Arts Centre, Western University, London, ON

COMMISSIONS

2022  Illustrator, Laddy O’Luck, written by Mac Kennedy, Published by Mascot Books

PUBLICATIONS

2023 “Jack Cocker – One to Watch” – Canadian Art Junkie
2023 Symposium Volume 10 Issue 2 – Western University
2022  Symposium Volume 10, Issue 1, Western University, London, ON

AWARDS / GRANTS

2024 Annual Juried Exhibition 22 – Third Prize, Jury Vote
2023 Gray Creative Arts Award in Visual Arts
2023 Kate and Robert Taylor Scholarship in Visual Arts
2023 Bess A. Hewitt Scholarship Recipient
2023 Annual Juried Exhibition 21 – Third Prize, Jury Vote

Michael Pszczonak