Joshua Abelow and Bjorn Copeland at COOPER COLE

Artists: Joshua Abelow and Bjorn Copeland

Venue: COOPER COLE, Toronto, Canada

Date: March 26 – April 25, 2015

Photography: Images courtesy of the artists and COOPER COLE, Toronto

COOPER COLE is pleased to announce a two person exhibit with artists Joshua Abelow and Bjorn Copeland. Exhibiting together for the first time, this will also mark Copeland’s first exhibition in Toronto.

Both Abelow and Copeland approach their practices using repetition as a conceptual tool to create, inform, and complicate meaning. Abelow often uses perverse and self-deprecating humor in his drawing, painting, and writing. His work serves as a self-referential examination into the personal and professional life of a painter living and working in the 21st Century. Copeland creates mixed media assemblages and sculptural works are made from found detritus and common commercial waste. These works simultaneously comment on the overconsumption of our throw-away society, while exploiting theories of advertising. By using popular culture as an initial reference point, each artist incorporates colourful geometric abstraction, text, and figuration to illustrate the metaphorical and literal effective frequency amid their respective body of work.

Joshua Abelow (b. 1976, Frederick, Maryland, USA) earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1998 and his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2008. His solo shows include “OH! ABELOW” at James Fuentes, New York (2011), “DUMB & EASY” at Tomorrow, Toronto (2011), “FAMOUS ARTIST” at Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels (2012), “ABELOW SCHMABELOW” at Brand New Gallery, Milan (2012), and “ABELOW ON DELANCEY” at James Fuentes (2013). Abelow’s work has been in included in numerous group exhibitions worldwide. In 2011, Abelow published a memoir titled ‘Painter’s Journal’ about his adventures in New York City in the late 1990s as a young artist. He is also active as a curator and organizer of exhibitions under the moniker ART BLOG ART BLOG, after his popular blog, which can be found here: joshuaabelow.blogspot.com

Bjorn Copeland (b. 1975, Malone, New York, USA) received his BFA with a focus in sculpture from the Road Island School of Design; Providence, RI, USA; and studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME, USA. Copeland is also one of the founding members of the seminal electronic music band Black Dice. He has participated in group exhibitions at galleries such Daniel Reich Gallery, CANADA, Gagosian, New York, NY, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Chicago, IL, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL, USA; Standard, Oslo, Norway; David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Musee D’Art Contemporain De Montreal, Montreal, Canada; amongst others. In addition Copeland has had solo exhibitions at Jack Hanley, New York, NY and San Fransisco, CA; China Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles, CA; and Daniel Reich Gallery, New York, NY, USA. Copeland currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.