Cooper has had solo exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad. His "mixed-media sculptures"[5] have been written about in The New York Times,[6] Artforum,[7] among others. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art[8] and the Pérez Art Museum.[9]
Cooper's art has been described as "obsessed with the dark side of adolescence and with how the transition from youth to adulthood is acted out in a variety of aesthetic statements."[7] Cooper's sculptures of "institutionalized surfaces"[10] "filtered through the aesthetics of his 1980s childhood, pervert the forms and features of K-12."[10] Works have featured references to ballet barres,[5] institutional projection screens,[5] and a "penetrated matador's cape."[5]
Writing about his work, Artforum critic Alex Javonovich stated that Cooper's sculptures are "sensuous yet sterile" and "frantic and batty."[11]
Cooper's artistic style can be seen reflected in his film work, and themes and elements from his exhibiting art career have appeared in his contributions to films, including ballet barres[5] in scenes from Jordan Peele's Us.
In 2017, Cooper was brought on as the Creative Director[4]ofMonkeypaw Productions, as well as becoming Jordan Peele's producing partner.[12] Since joining the company, Cooper has produced the following feature films: Peele's 2019's Us; Nia DaCosta's Candyman (2022); and Peele's 2022 film Nope.
Feature Films:
Us
During filming, Ian Cooper went to great lengths[13] to ensure key plot points weren't leaked early, in one instance telling passersby that the crew was filming a Verizon commercial.
Candyman
Cooper spoke highly about the unity of the cast and crew throughout the filming process.[14] Reviews of the film praised the writing,[15] directing,[16] and social critiques[17]
Nope
While few details have been released about Monkeypaw's latest film Nope, the teaser announcement[18] included a released date of July 22, 2022. It has been confirmed[19] that the cast will include Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun. Cooper is credited on the film as a producer.
Before entering the film world, Ian Cooper was on the sculpture faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School Department of Arts & Arts Professions from 2005 to 2017. Cooper also served as the lead faculty of the Senior Studio Program and was the program coordinator for the Senior Honors Studio program[20] across the first three years of its inception. During his tenure at NYU, Cooper co-created the NYU Curatorial Collaborative[2] which remains a capstone experience to the thesis program, as well as a cross-departmental program that unites a select group of curatorial graduate students from The Institute of Fine Art[21] with a group of jury-selected undergraduate visual artists from the Steinhardt Studio Art program. The initiative "fosters interdisciplinary teamwork that prepares both the artists and art historians for future projects in their respective fields"[22] and results in a series of exhibitions annually, held at the 80WSE Gallery.[23] Cooper also partnered with artist Sara Greenberger Rafferty to teach a Cartoon Logic course at Michigan's prestigious Ox-Bow School of Art.[24][25]
