Déjà vu

Christopher Cook's artistic practice often blurs the distinction between drawing and painting. Working with a liquefied mixture of graphite powder, resin, and oil, Cook draws with bravado and spontaneity, producing painterly-like tonal effects that define his graphites.

Déjà vu reflects Cook's longstanding fascination with worlds within worlds, especially the formal and psychological qualities of enclosed spaces. Here, he presents a panoramic view from the stage of the ornately decorated, but otherwise empty Paris Opera house. In this enigmatic architectural scene, Cook captures the tension between the experience of déjà vu-something already seen-and how one sees something familiar in a new way. Indeed, the relationship between the observer and the observed is fundamental to Cook's artistic interests.