Tory Folliard Gallery filled with visitors on Gallery weekend as they admired the recent exhibition “Robert Cocke: The Laughter of Trees.” His highly detailed and descriptive oil landscapes depict the beauty and serenity to nature an individual needs to remember in today's hectic environments, either outside or inside. After flying from his current hometown in Arizona to Milwaukee for the exhibition, Cocke discussed the process to his artwork at the opening last week.
How did you decide on the title for the exhibition?
Trees are very important to me, a real presence so they appear in almost every painting. I feel plants are alive. When I'm walking in a forest, they do appear as a presence or personality. I often think of them being able to laugh and laugh at us.
Your original style was different form this present one. How did your art come to change?
I've been painting for over 40 years and it was a long, gradual evolution from my politically oriented work in the past. I discovered I didn't want to paint political and social commentary any more. I wanted a more expressionistic kind of painting.
How long have you been painting in this style and how would you describe it?
I've been painting for the last 12 to 13 years and I prefer to call it magical realism instead of surrealism or surrealistic, so it's not connected to a large art movement And at this stage of the game, I don't do any extensive pre-planning, I just draw with the paint brush, paint from the heart and see what happens.
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Where do the objects come from in your paintings?
Many I have in my studio, actual objects that I collect. Others are taken from photographs, revised and others completely imagined. There is a symbolism to the objects, a quality to this form of the penny bank [which looks like a tiny house in his painting] that I had in my childhood, or a variation to a salt shaker. I love to cook and I love old things, so these show up in my paintings.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My painting appears more like poetry than prose, more than merely narrative, especially in the titles. They're not narrative or really explicit to the painting's meaning. I only hope to give people a path to follow in exploring the painting. I am a great admirer of Northern Renaissance painting and the also the Hudson River painters, with their attention to craftsmanship and personal integrity to the work. Everything fit together so perfectly. I'm striving for that only with contemporary settings.
Any last thoughts on your paintings?
I'm inspired by the amazing clouds from the sky around me, a great big sky in the Southwest. I hope [I give viewers] I allow others to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is all obscured by what else is around now. A vision of peace, quiet and beauty. There's a bigger world out there than cell phones and face book.
(Tory Folliard Gallery presents the exhibition “Robert Cocke: A Laughter of Tree” through November 13)
