On Saturday, September 12th, The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum will host an opening reception for three new exhibitions, including Jim Couper: There Are No Other Everglades in the World.
This exhibition features a new series of paintings by Jim Couper. His paintings do not have people or even traces of people in them – just untouched nature in its purest form. According to Couper, “It’s the experience of the wild landscape, not a picture of it, that interests me.” The Florida Everglades are the artist’s favorite place to paint; unfortunately, he has witnessed the Everglades’s decline over the years. (Source)
He stated, “I never feel as inspired as when I am in nature – as far away as possible from any traces of human intervention. My work is a humble acknowledgement of the wonder that is being taken from us.” He made this choice because of concerns for the preservation of what remains of the Everglades. This concern is the conceptual basis for making this body of work, and the Everglades provides an endless source of visual and spiritual inspiration. (Source)
Jim Couper is a Professor Emeritus in the FIU Art + Art History Department, the founding director of the Art Museum at FIU (now the Frost Art Museum), and a full-time painter. He is also the founding director of the FIU Art + Art History graduate program and has served as the department’s chair. He retired in 2005 after 33 years and maintains residences in Miami and Tallulah Falls, Georgia, drawing inspiration from both locales. The Ringling Museum, the Boca Raton Museum, and numerous other private, public, and corporate art collections have featured and acquired Couper’s works. (Source)
The opening reception for Jim Couper: There Are No Other Everglades in the World will occur on Saturday, September 12th, 2015 at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum: 10975 SW 17th Street, Miami, FL 33199. Free and open to the public.
The featured image is Shark Valley, 2014, oil on canvas, 58 x 82 inches, Courtesy of the Artist Jim Couper.
Follow FIU Art + Art History on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
