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Biography

Eileen Cooper was born in 1953 in Glossop, near Manchester. She studied fine art at Goldsmith's College and Royal College of Art, London (1971 - 1977). Cooper is one of the major British figurative artists who emerged in the mid 1980's. Solo exhibitions include Castlefield Art Gallery, Manchester (1986), Artsite, Bath (1987), Benjamin Rhodes Gallery, London (1988/90/94), and a touring show of graphics (1996 - 97) to Darlington, Harrogate and Scarborough Art Galleries. The 1999 exhibition Second Skin, curated by Art First, also toured nationally. In 2000 Dulwich Picture Gallery in collaboration with Art First, hosted a major exhibition of Cooper's paintings and drawings, Raw Material, based on a two year residency during which she worked with the collection. In 2001 she was elected Royal Academician and exhibits work in the annual Summer Exhibition. In June 2004 Cooper made her first appearance in Scotland with a solo show of paintings, prints and drawings at the Glasgow Print Centre. She has been represented by Art First since 1997.

In October 2011, Eileen Cooper became the first woman to be appointed an Officer of the Royal Academy since its inception in 1768. She took up her post as Keeper, which includes her role as Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools.

Eileen Cooper has participated in significant national and international shows on British Art including The Image as Catalyst, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1984), Conversations, Arts Council Touring exhibition (1987), The New British Painting, Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati and tour (1988), Picturing People, Arts Council exhibition touring to Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Singapore (1989), The Outsider: British Figuration Now, Palazzzo Vecchio, Florence (1990), and Innocence and Experience, South Bank Centre and Manchester City Art Gallery touring exhibition to Manchester, Hull, Nottingham and Glasgow City Art Galleries (1992).