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Christopher Cook, “Blade Fall,” 2006, graphite, oil and resin on aluminum panel, 60 by 40 inches.

FOR 5-11

‘CHRISTOPHER COOK: NEW GRAPHITES’ AT MARY RYAN GALLERY w/1 cut

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NEW YORK CITY — “Christopher Cook: New Graphites, Works on Aluminum and Paper” is on view at Mary Ryan Gallery through June 16.

The exhibition comprises a new body of work from the British artist. Since abandoning color in 1997, Cook has worked with a mixture of graphite, oil and resin to develop his signature “graphites”

His technique involves combining graphite powder with resin, oil and solvents and applying it to coated paper or wall mounted aluminum using brushes, his fingers, rags and other implements. Cook welcomes uncertainty in his graphites, tilting the work surface and letting gravity dictate the movement of the liquid mixture.

This exhibition introduces waterfalls as subject matter, which have fascinated Cook since seeing a Hokusai exhibition in Tokyo. For Cook, the waterfall is a symbol of continual becoming, of potential and of constant motion.

“Blade Fall” is a powerful image, with water that pours from the top of the aluminum in jagged sheets and culminates in a spray of whitewater that seems to cushion the falling blades. It is in a sense a manufactured waterfall that looks at once sharp and dangerous, while retaining the dynamism and flow of water.

Also on view are Cook’s most recent renditions of theater interiors, which focus almost exclusively on stage curtains. The curtains and waterfalls are both depicted close-up, filling the picture plane, and are framed with fragments of foliage or set decoration.

Cook studied English and fine art at the University of Exeter and then went on to receive an MA in painting at the Royal College of Art. He has regularly exhibited throughout Europe and has shown his large-scale aluminum pieces at the Diboll Gallery in New Orleans and the Art Museum at the University of Memphis. Cook was most recently the subject of a solo show at the Today Art Museum, the leading contemporary art institute in Beijing, China. His works are in the collections of the British Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Fitzwilliam Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Yale Center for British Art in Hartford. This is Cook’s second solo show at the Mary Ryan Gallery.

“Homing/Journey,” a 26-minute DVD will be on view in Gallery 3. The video follows the gaze of a passenger aboard a train from Exeter to London.

The gallery is at 527 West 26th Street. For information, www.maryryangallery.com or 212-397-0669.