P. J. Crook
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pam (P.J) Crook was born in Cheltenham, England, where she still lives, in 1945.[1] Although she has shown successfully in London for many years, her work is perhaps better known in France and America, where she has a huge following.
From a small studio at the rear of her house and often working through the night, she manages compositions on a monumental scale – paintings of 50" x 70" are not unusual. Yet she also paints small pictures, some no larger than 10" square. She works in acrylic (sometimes in oil) on canvas, or on a corrugated wood support, which gives a three-dimensional effect to her work, as does her practice of incorporating the frame within the composition.
A recurring theme within her work is crowd interaction. Some of these paintings have been used as covers for King Crimson's recent albums.
Alain Coudert writing in 'Arts Actualities' Magazine, Paris says of her work: 'The world according to P.J. Crook is full of individuals losing their identities in a crowd, where they are packed tightly like sardines in a tin. But this is not sad, it is merely a symptom of an age which tends to walk on its head.'
The art dealer Brian Sinefeld cites Balthus and Magritte as artists who have worked within a similar framework as P.J. Crook. These artists 'whose surrealistic works of static, quirky realism belie a powerful mysticism lying below the surface' are akin in their sense of mystery to P.J. Crook.[2]
PJ Crook is a Patron of the National Star College Cheltenham; a Trustee and director of ACS (the Artists' Collecting Society); a Gloucestershire Ambassador; member of the Royal West of England Academy; Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. Clubs: Chelsea Arts Clud; the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire.
[edit] References
- ^ Crooke P. J. www.bridgeman .co.uk, undated, (accessed 22 January 2007)
- ^ Pamela Crook, www.rwa.org.uk, undated (accessed 22 January 2007)
