John Cooper is just a guy.
The legendary 81-year-old painter has taught thousands of people in the Kootenays, is personal friends with writer Tom Robbins, and at one point was averaging between 200 to 300 pieces a year. But he still doesn’t really think of himself as an artist.
“I never thought of myself that way all my life. I thought of myself as a carpenter or a father or a mechanic or an apple juice salesman,” Cooper told the Star.
“But I always made art as well.”
As it turns out, that’s a little bit of an understatement. The Queens Bay resident has taught at institutions across North America, becoming a preeminent voice in colour theory, while still successfully maintaining his prolific output.
One example? He figures he’s made over 300 paintings of Toad Rock, which is about a mile from his house alongside Kootenay Lake. And it’s his favourite place to bring fellow artists and friends, who would set up easels by his side.
“A lot of people have painted Toad Rock over the years, and it’s like having a gift to share. It’s hard to paint because it’s broken and crumply, but it really looks like a toad, especially when there’s snow on it. I just started painting it, and people seemed to like it, so I kept going.”
That was 36 years ago, and he hasn’t stopped yet.
And now that he’s got an exhibit of his life’s work coming to the Langham in Kaslo on Friday, March 10, his subversive, playful and thoroughly unique pieces will now be made accessible to an entirely new audience.
But don’t expect him to take things too seriously — if there’s one unifying element to his work, it’s fun.
“I did this series when I was 30 of big horse’s asses, and all these pieces they were filled with naked women who were riding them, some of them sheriff’s daughters. They had brooms for tails, and they were kind of gross, but I loved it.”
And it was during that time that he connected with Robbins, who was pre-fame, and co-hosted a radio show in Seattle alongside their artist friend Paul Heald.
“We were all a bit stoned back then,” Cooper said.
“We did a thing on FM radio talking about art, and whenever Tom would talk to me he would play barnyard sounds, chickens crowing and pigs and horses or cows. Then when he played his part it would be cities and cars honking. It was really jolly, a lot of fun.”
That blossomed into a lifelong friendship, and Cooper would routinely visit the author’s cabin in Washington. In the 1970s he parked his gypsy van in Robbins’ driveway shortly after his friend had published the hugely successful novel Another Roadside Attraction.
“The book was just starting to get its legs, and people were getting excited. But celebrities are just humans too and you’ve got to treat them that way, you can’t worship them. We just harmonized because he had a couple of my paintings and I respected him, he respected me.”
That being said, he admired Robbins’ dedication to his craft.
“I wouldn’t see him in the mornings, because he was writing, but he would come out for a coffee break and read to me three or four variations on a sentence and say ‘which one resonates with you?’ It was huge fun.”
And somewhere along the way, Robbins gave him a piece of advice he’s carried around since: “Take it a little farther”
“He was just a guy too, but a damn good one.”
It’s been a while since he last saw Robbins, and these days Cooper doesn’t get far from his home — he recently suffered a broken back — but he hasn’t been letting that get him down. He continues to paint and collect material for sculpture pieces.
“Cooper loves junk,” he said.
“There’s a great wealth in our junk. I have all of these Sesame Street animals that came from the Sally Ann for about two bucks, and I’ve got Pooh Bear and I have all these things I love.”
That includes a discarded styrofoam head that he named Walter William, a character that has appeared in his work multiple times. Similar to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, this character gives voice to observations and sentiments he might not be able to share otherwise.
“Walter William sees things from a very simple, basic point of view. He can get away with observations that other people might not be able to.”
One piece he created features William with a green ear, with leaves sprouting from his skull. The caption: “Stop clearcuts”. Another one shows his face cut in half with the caption “Walter William beside himself, speaking his own level.”
Though he’s proud of his work, he’s just as proud of what he accomplished with his students over the years.
“I loved seeing students achieve their identity, and receive comfort and happiness in their identity. A good teacher helps students to become themselves. All art is about freedom, and you can’t hardly make art if you’re not free.”
The Kootenays gave him the opportunity to explore that freedom.
“I left the States in 1970, when Nixon was in, and I broke the axle of my truck while I was driving through Nelson. I was stuck long enough to feel the pulse of the place, and to experience the pleasure of it, and I realized it was a place I could relate to.”
He got caught up in the counterculture of the time, and was inspired by the people building a new type of life. He considered his work to be a part of that, and wanted to expand other people’s consciousness.
“You have to wake them up. Then once they wake up and start sniffing your art, they’ll get the essence of it. You have to be aggressive sometimes, and keep on laughing. You have to stick it out there so people can’t deny it.”
And that’s what he’ll be doing with this exhibit, which will be followed by a film screening on April 7. He plans to attend the opening gala in person — even if he has to be in a wheelchair.
“There’s an illusion that you can become an artist, but I think you are always an artist and you become a practitioner of the art. You have to feel it deep in your soul, or you wouldn’t pursue it — you’d do something else.”
That’s not an option for him.
“I’ve had a remarkable career here and I’m thankful to be one of Nelson’s artists. I’m working on getting rehabilitated and I think I’m going to be doing some more work too, because I’m not dead yet.”
