When I was a child, I was always fascinated when light streamed down in bold rays through the clouds above. I was taught to call the rays “God’s fingers”, and I dreamed of giant unseen hands at work with the business of creation. This painting, “Sacred Providence”, attempts to convey that sense of wonder, as well as the feeling of providence, that we are being smiled down upon and protected in our daily lives by a sense of divine blessing. This painting, and many others, can be seen at Mark Gruber Gallery in New Paltz, NY through July 1, 2023.

This painting, “Everlasting Promise”, depicts a view looking down from rocky cliffs. It suggests a promised land of sorts, a sign being given, a moment when the spiritual world reveals itself to the material world, a view beyond the veil into color and light. The painting can be seen at Mark Gruber Gallery in New Paltz, NY through July 1, 2023.

I am proud to announce a new body of work that I will be showing for the first time this spring at Mark Gruber Gallery in New Paltz, NY. The show runs from May 13 through July 1, and an opening reception will be held on Saturday May 13, from 5-7PM. The show also features the work of two artists I am proud to call friends, Gayle Clark Fedigan and Robert Trondsen.

While viewers and collectors can be assured of seeing a number of my signature Hudson Valley skies, you will also be treated to a new collection of intimate woodland interiors. These paintings reflect the same spiritual truths and themes I have always explored, but in quiet, mossy microcosm. “In The Woods So Deep” (above) is one such piece.

I am currently showing new paintings at Windham Fine Arts in the Catskills. In a press release, the gallery writes, “(Cook’s) artwork is quiet and still. Each piece conveys an inner peace and the spirit of its surroundings. Kevin’s contemplative treatment of light, water and atmosphere turn our attention to nature and its process, promising everlasting life.” The piece shown above, “Expansion”, is one of many new works on display. 

I am proud to participate in an exhibit titled, “Seasons of Greene” this September at the Athens Cultural Center in Athens, NY. Each painting in the show features a view of a protected landscape maintained by the Greene County Land Trust. A portion of each sale benefits the Land Trust in its efforts to conserve open spaces for the enjoyment of all.

I am exhibiting six pieces overall, including the painting shown above, “Golden Finale”.

I am proud to have several new pieces on display at the Mark Gruber Gallery in New Paltz, NY. A summer exhibition focused on the luminist style of painting features the piece seen above. Entitled, “A Curtain Of Rain”, it features a view from artist Frederic Church’s home, Olana. Looking down the Hudson River as the nearby Catskill Mountains loom large, the air is frequently full of light, mists, and vapor. I visited the site for the first time in a number of years this summer and was inspired yet again by the magnificence of the view from the terrace outside his studio.

This piece is an exploration of the real and the ethereal, and how we move between the two states. The site is known as Inspiration Point, in the Catskill Mountains, and was frequented by Hudson River School artists more than one hundred and fifty years ago.

Like so many in the past year, I have been touched by the pandemic and the increasing ill effects of climate change. How am I, as an artist, to respond to such sustained devastation, to our planet’s apparent rage? The piece below, “Pandemic”, begins to approach the vulnerability I feel before nature’s wrath. A firenado, seen ever more frequently in the American west, truly encapsulates and symbolizes the path of destruction left by the pandemic, heatwaves and wildfires as they wreak havoc in our modern world.  

The piece above, “Apogee”, relates to the farthest point in an orbit, speaking to the isolation of lockdown.

This summer, I have been thinking a lot about our connection to the land, and how increasingly tenuous that relationship is. As I frequently look to the past for inspiration, I found myself painting stone barns photographed during a walking holiday in Yorkshire. They appear to have sprung up from the soil, perfectly integrated with the surrounding landscape, and are still an important part of daily life.

The painting above is “Farm Track”, and the barn features a massive doorway, while walled pastures hem it in from all sides. The other piece, “Cultivated Valley”, features a long view through many meadows.

In the last weeks before the novel coronavirus changed our world, I had the opportunity to visit France for the first time. Mont St Michel has fascinated me since childhood. It appears out of the mists like a real-life sand castle, and has been a destination for religious pilgrimage for nearly eleven hundred years.

Upon my return, I was commissioned to do this painting, entitled, “The Pilgrim’s Sanctuary”. The result is hopefully a romantic’s homage to the past, the enduring present, and hope for the future.