Two Corella cups, creamer and a sugar bowl – Peter Cooley
‘Black Cockatoo & Chinese Clouds’ vessel by Peter Cooley
2010
What a Flamin’ Galah!
The innate Australian laid back “she’ll be right” attitude, infused with their easy going approach and original humor, is also reflected in some of the characteristics of the Aussie animals. The Koala Bear, renown for their economy of movement, has a tendency to drop out of trees from being too relaxed, aided by the consumption of the intoxicating eucalyptus leaves (their main staple) The kangaroo bounces around because this is also more efficient for energy conservation, especially in the summer heat (why bother with 50 steps when you can cover it in three leaps?) The Goanna and Thorny Devil lizard also like to take their time with their languid gaits. The Cockatoo and the Kookaburra have loads of character in their distinctive Australian bird calls and are a vivid reminder of the diversity of the Australian humor.
The wry, laconic Aussie communication also favors an economy of words, down to stripping the syllables to the bare essentials, by reducing them down to one or two, so the vocabulary features words like Uni (university), tute (tutorial), arvo (afternoon), sunnies (sunglasses), brekkie (breakfast), sanga (sandwich), avo (avocado) and selfies (OZ origin)
Peter Coolies animal sculptures remind me of this cultural ethos with forms that are simplified with a casual blend combining abstraction and figuration and a playful mix of the tactile and ethereal. And like the Aussie language, they have been Brancusied to direct more focus on the spirit of the subject at the expense of detail. He claims that ceramics are metaphysical objects and his animal sculptures emulate the uniqueness and warmth of the Australian animals in a manner that elevates their charm and spirit.
‘A pair of Red Kangaroos’ — Peter Cooley
2015
Peter Cooley’s general preference for rich majolica colours reflect his childhood fascination spent in tropical Queensland exposed to exotic Australian birds and their vivid plumes and his years in the Blue Mountains closely observing the local animals in their natural habitat. Cockatoos, cassowaries, koalas, wallabys, gang gangs, sugar gliders and echindas are some of the many animals he has sculpted with an intimate insight that evokes their wildlife vibrancy.
Originally beginning his formal foray into art as a painter, Peter has relished the shift he made to the ceramic arts, claiming that painting on dirt has an essence about it that is grounded yet capable of revealing vivid, lustrous palettes. He cites the Mid Century Italian contemporary avant-garde ceramics of Fausto Melotti and Leoncillo Leonardi as an influence and this is apparent with his simplified forms of rich texture and colour and the strong emphasis on the sculptural and abstract. You can also include the native art from the PNG Highlands and Sepik River which he cited as an early influence along with the German Die Brucke expressionism.
I am also showing some other unique Aussie animal sculptures from Diane Berner, Anita Reay and Stephen Bernwell.
Galah’s – Peter Cooley
‘Cassowary’ – Peter Cooley – 2013
Photography by Tony Lopes
‘Black Tailed Swamp Wallaby 2’, Peter Cooley 2014
Earthenware, 69 x 44 x 46cm
‘Echidna & Glenbrook Gorge’ – Peter Cooley
2016 – Scott Livesey Galleries
Peter Cooley – ‘Gang Gangs’ – 2012
Photo by Tony Lopes
‘Gang Gang Teacups’ — Peter Cooley
2012
‘Pair of Regent Parrots’ – Peter Cooley
2017
‘Pair of black tailed swamp wallabies’ by Peter Cooley
2015
Striped ceramic goblets – Peter Cooley
‘Glider and Landscape’ 2018 – Peter Cooley
‘Lyrebird 4’ majolica sculpture — Peter Cooley
2018
Peter Cooley — Enviroment, Colour, Tone exhibition — 2018 @ Martin Browne Contemporary
5 April –29 April 2018
15 Hampden Street Paddington NSW 2021
Green Rosella and eucalyptus ceramic sculpture – Peter Cooley
‘Major Mitchel Cockatoo’ -Peter Cooley
53cm height
‘Pair of cockatiels’ – Earthenware — Peter Cooley
Palm Cockatoo 1 — Peter Cooley
2011- 60cm height
‘Parrots & Landscape Urn 2’ — Peter Cooley
Peter Cooley, ‘Kites 1′
2012, earthenware, 44 x 28 x 28 cm
Peter Cooley with kangaroo sculpture
Peter Cooley
Red & Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo’s and Landscape Urn 3 – Peter Cooley
Peter Cooley Glider and Landscape 1
2017 – 53cm height
Peter Cooley ‘Brush Tailed Rock Wallaby’
Peter Cooley tea bowl
Peter Cooley ‘Wentworth Falls, a pair’
2017
Earthenware 70 x 26 x 25 cm
‘Red Kangaroo 1’, Earthenware
69 x 32 x 32cm
‘Red Kangaroo 10’ by Peter Cooley
‘Sugar Glider’ earthenware, Peter Cooley
‘Swans 1’, Peter Cooley
Photography by Tony Lopes
‘Tree Kangaroo’ — Peter Cooley
–2012–
‘Echidna & Copeland’s Lookout’ –2016 – Peter Cooley
‘Wentworth Falls 3’ — Peter Cooley ceramic sculpture
‘White tailed black cockatoo’ – Peter Cooley
‘Palm Valley’ painting—Peter Cooley
2002
Peter Cooley Instagram
More Aussie animals –
Pair of Pink Galahs — Valerie Willy
Diane Berner – Kookaburra
Diane Berner – Owl
Diane Berner – tall bird sculpture
Diane Berner raku duck
Diane Berner
Owl Form, lidded container — Stephen Benwell
Stephen Benwell twin candleholder ceramic sculpture croc
Length 22 inches
Stephen Benwell – Croc bowl with handle
Burrowing Bilby, South Australia
Tasmanian Pademelon short tailed wallaby – photo Jean Pierre Chabrol
Anita Reay – ‘Spotted quoll’
‘Tasmanian Devil’ – Anita Reay
‘Possum’ – Anita Reay
Gavino Tilocca wild boar
Gavino Tilocca warrior on horse
Sunbaking Goanna
‘Lumholtzs Tree Kangaroo’ © MattSummerville
Senia Kazar ceramic possum
St Kilda Esplanade Market
Senia Kazar koala bears
St Kilda Esplanade Market
Possum, platypus and wombat by Senia Kazar
‘Fighting Roos’ wire sculpture by Jo Caminiti
2018 height 7ft 2 inches
Mabi the Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo
