Justin Cooper - Vic's Downtown Expresso Bar - Feb. 11, 2004 - 3 1/2 stars

Cooper's work, a small selection of painted panel pieces and large canvases, are a good fit for this space. The panel pieces are of distorted, definable female portraits. There is no model and there's no need for one as facial features, are broken down and defined by balanced forms. The forms independently float and stack like puzzle pieces, seemingly disassociated from one another, combining foreground and background. This merge, enhanced by the colors, is reminiscent of cubist style, "Ma Jolie" color scheme (though not Picasso at all) and conceptual execution. Forms are done in washed sienna and tawny tones, executed on white, and are surrounded by brown stained board. Terrazzo marble-like squares decoratively set the physical forms off and are sometimes set on top of mazes of Greek key designs. This work is about the art process and how an artist perceives the world through an art geometry, constantly dissecting what they view into colors and shapes and light. Through February 2004; 317-951-0335. -Mary Lee Pappas