Ina Kooper (1945)

Ina Kooper waited a long time before she considered the time ripe to exhibit her highly personal, tender works of art. In Gallery Wit she now shows paintings and drawings that resulted from an artistic struggle in which much good stuff perished and only the best survived.
Ina studied art and taught art and art history, before majoring in psychology. In 1992 she returned to art in under the guidance of Theo Poel at the Art Academy in Rotterdam, before finally settling as an independent artist in Amsterdam.
Her initial portraits depict universal existential aspects of human existence: vulnerability, uncertainty, restlessness and anxiety, but also courage, control, strength, and pride. Her newer work shows human figures that sit  or walking and look back, watching themselves through the eyes of another person. In one series she sets man against a beast which stands as a metaphor for life.
Her paintings are layered, sensitive and coated. The colours are strong and contrasting. Scratches expose deeper layers of paint, and drippings betray a tormented genesis. Her drawings are more spontaneous, bust also depict human figures, standing, walking, looking back, and sometimes searching for support.

Whoever engrosses himself in these intimate works does not only discover a talented , but also becomes uplifted spiritually.

(with thanks to Thea Figee and Ina Kooper)

Publications

• Ina Kooper in Eigen Huis en Interieur (Di 01 Juli 2008)