KYM COOPER | Mapping the Document of Discovery through Oppression and Genocide
24 Julho 2024 14h00
KYM COOPER | Mapping the Document of Discovery through Oppression and Genocide
OPEN STUDIO | 25-26-27 July 2024, 14:00-20:00
ARTIST TALK | 27 July, 14:00
ARTIST TALK | 27 July, 14:00
We are thrilled to present a flash exhibition by Kym Cooper, multidisciplinary artist resident at Zaratan. As an African-American female artist, with her abstract paintings she seeks to express lengthy journey exploring the injustices of the African diaspora not only in Portugal, but also globally.
During her stay at Zaratan, she produced five paintings based on research into documents linked to the Doctrine of Discovery of 1452, claiming the importance of historical memory for understanding the present.
The works combine acrylic paintings, textiles and objects found in second-hand stores and antique shops in Lisbon, where the materials themselves take on a narrative and symbolic dimension.
During her stay at Zaratan, she produced five paintings based on research into documents linked to the Doctrine of Discovery of 1452, claiming the importance of historical memory for understanding the present.
The works combine acrylic paintings, textiles and objects found in second-hand stores and antique shops in Lisbon, where the materials themselves take on a narrative and symbolic dimension.
To complement the exhibition, on July 27 at 14:00, Kym Cooper will be available to introduce her artistic course and to lead visitors on a discussion around the creation imaginary and the pieces developped during her time in Lisbon.
BIO: KYM COOPER is a multidisciplinary artist who specializes in contemporary abstract art. Her focus is painting the traumatic challenges of the Afro-American experience through paintings, quilts and installations starting with African enslavement by the Portuguese in the 1440’s and continuing on with the Dutch and the British where Africans were held in slave prisons and then transported against their will through the Caribbean and the Americas. Kym Cooper is originally from New York and holds a law degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and a Master’s in Elementary Education from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the American University in Washington, D.C. “Art has always been my passion and without expressing my growth and development on canvas, I would feel like a fish out of water. I have been painting since middle school. It has helped me maintain my emotional sanity in this ever turbulent and confusing world that I, as an Afro-American woman exist in. I hope that I can take you on a visual journey through the past so you can see why Black Lives Matter!”