Bronze Sculpture for Sale
United Kingdom
• 1984
Biography
Kate Cooper is a British artist, widely recognized for her unique artistic style, which she refers to as "hypercapitalism." This term describes her digitally manipulated images of women—often created using CGI technology—transforming real women into idealized, hyper-realistic figures. Cooper's work critiques consumerism and the pervasive objectification of women, especially in the realms of advertising, digital media, and visual merchandising. Her powerful, feminist approach challenges the ways in which the digital age and consumer culture shape perceptions of identity and body image.
Born in Liverpool in 1984, Cooper is a self-taught artist with no formal training. She began her career as part of the collaborative art project Auto Italia South East in London, which explored alternative forms of labor within artistic practices. After eight years of collaboration, she transitioned to a solo career, developing her hyper-digitalized images. Initially, Cooper began by photographing live models and manipulating their images, but over time, she mastered the use of CGI technology to create flawless, autonomous female figures. This shift marked a turning point in her career, as the subjects of her art became not representations of real people but unique digital personas with their own distinct faces and bodies.
Cooper's works blend the vibrant iconography of television and advertising with the sterile graphics of video games, often presented in billboard or lightbox formats, evoking the world of commercial advertising. Her flawless images challenge the history of the female body in advertising and technology, exploring themes of visual merchandising and female labor within a digitalized world. With a strong, clear advertising intent, her heroines strive to break free from their objectification, exploring new terrain and seeking autonomous status.
Through her deep investigation of the pervasive objectification of the female body and the digitalization of our world, Cooper explores the tension between the physical and digital realms. She asks if these worlds are truly separate or if there are ways to establish a stable relationship between the two. Her works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums in London, Tokyo, and at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. In 2015, Cooper received the BEN Prize for Emerging Talent and was recognized at the Frankfurt B3 Biennale of the Moving Image. She also won the Schering Stiftung Art Award in 2014. Recently, her works have continued to evolve, addressing urgent topics around digital identity, feminist narratives, and the intersection of art, technology, and society, resonating strongly with contemporary artists exploring similar themes in 2024/2025.
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