Michael Cook
Michael Cook was born in Brisbane in 1968 to an indigenous Australian father and grew up immersed in a Western environment. Cook began his career in fashion photography, a trait that resonates through the highly stylized and dramatic nature of his images.
His fascination with Indigenous identity and Australian colonial history led him to turn to an artistic approach, addressing issues such as postcolonial identity, dispossession and displacement. In his paintings, he switches perspectives between settlers and colonized and the historical often intertwines with the imaginary.
Natures Mortes, Living Country
February 11 – May 28, 2022
From February 11 to May 28, 2022, the Deletaille Gallery presented an exhibition of Australian Aboriginal art featuring the work of the Tjanpi Desert Weavers and photographer Michael Cook. The exhibition was exploring the culture and history of Aboriginal Australia, as well as the richness and strength of its inventiveness through the work of contemporary artists who share a tension between extinct nature and living nature, between anxiety and hope, but also a belief in the resilience of this nature.
Michael Cook, Nature morte (Exploitation), from the Natures mortes series, 2021
Natures Mortes
The Natures Mortes series was produced in 2021. In this series of eight paintings, spare but lavishly lit compositions of plants, animals, objects and food echo Dutch paintings by old masters.
Each image examines an aspect of the devastating impact of colonization on Australia's Aboriginal people and the global implications of environmental degradation. Natures Mortes explores Australian flora and fauna at a critical level.
References to Australian history and the impact on Australian indigenous culture are complex and abundant. The paradox is that while these images are sublime, majestic, they tell a story of loss and plunder, dispossession and destruction. They speak of tragedy on a global scale. For in Cook's work, each detail holds its own meaning, enriching the complex story of humanity.
