Michael Cooper: A Sculptural Odyssey, 1968 – 2011 traces over 40 years of the artist's poignant, often humorous, explorations into human nature and society's fascination with violence and power. From pistol-packing tricycles to curiously mobile forms of "furniture," Cooper's work investigates commonplace objects, transforming familiar icons into witty, fantastical works of art.

Over the past four decades, Cooper's artwork has become increasingly complex and multi-layered. At Bellevue Arts Museum, visitors have an opportunity to see a selection of the artist's most thought-provoking sculptures, ranging from early explorations of functional forms to recent large-scale, mixed-media installations. The exhibition is anchored by a monumental, kinetic, computer-driven work entitled How the West Was Won, How the West Was Lost, a sculptural treatise on conquest, greed and lust for oil: concepts as topical today as they were when the artist began the work in 1977.

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Michael Cooper was born in Richmond, CA in 1943. He received his B.A. in Commercial Art (1966) and M.A. in Sculpture (1968) from San Jose State College, where he studied with eminent sculptor Fletcher Benton. Later, he obtained a M.F.A. in Sculpture (1969) from the University of California, Berkeley, studying with ceramicist Peter Voulkos. During his extensive artistic career, he has won numerous grants and awards and has been seen in solo and group exhibitions across the country. Cooper currently teaches at the California College of Art, San Francisco, CA as the Wornick Visiting Professor of Wood Arts.

Visit the artist's website at michaelcooper.us