Michael Coppelov

(b 1983, United Kingdom. Lives and works in London)

With a focus on painting; Coppelov's studio practice explores the labyrinthine systems that underpin our world. He works across a range of media; most regularly employing cardboard; paper; resin and canvas. The source material for his paintings ranges from Japanese pop artists to Bond films; to early 90s computer games such as Transport Tycoon; Theme Hospital or SimCity. His aesthetic mimics the screens of these games. He says: “Playing these games; one is aware that only a small section of a much larger whole is being viewed at any one time. This isometric system; free from the usual pictorial constraints of horizons or perspectives; can be potentially extended into infinity in any direction beyond the edge of the canvas. One could simply be looking at a tiny part of a much larger whole.”