John Hooper (sculptor)

John Hooper OC (1926–January 26 2006) was an English-born Canadian sculptor known for his colourful polychromed wood carvings." [http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/01/28/hooper-obit.html Sculptor John Hooper dies] ", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 28, 2006.] His works can be found on public display in many locations throughout Canada and worldwide.

Biography

Born in England, Hooper also spent time in his youth in China, and served as a captain in the British Army in India in 1944." [http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/publicart_wac/publicart.exe/indiv_artist?pnArtist_ID=43 John Hooper] ", City of Vancouver Public Art Registry.] Hooper was educated at the Royal College of Art and Bournemouth College of Art (now The Arts Institute at Bournemouth)," [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_27_24/ai_91092329 Public art finds a home at Pilgrim School] ", Advertising supplement to Los Angeles Business Journal, July 8, 2002.] and studied with sculptor Jacob Epstein." [http://www.mun.ca/marcomm/gazette/1997-98/Mar.19/m-out.htm The World of John Hooper] ", announcement for a show in the Arts and Culture Centre, Saint John, New Brunswick, March 19, 1998, with a brief biographical sketch of Hooper.] " [http://www.nbta.ca/nbsrt/reflectionsspring2006.pdf A Tribute to John Hooper] ". Bob Hinman, Reflections – A Magazine By and For Retired Teachers, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, Spring 2006.] After teaching at the University of Natal in South Africa from 1956 to 1962, he moved to New Brunswick, Canada, where he lived for the rest of his life, for many years working as a school teacher and administrator before devoting himself full-time to art in 1974.

Hooper was married to Kathy, an artist from South Africa who herself won the Strathbutler Award in 1994. [ [http://www.artathooperstudios.com/12.0.html Artist's statement] , Kathy Hooper, Hooper Studios.] With her he had four children and founded Hooper Studios, a centre for art and art education in Hampton, New Brunswick.

Works on public display

Hooper's art can be seen in Market Square and outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, in Sinclair Centre in Vancouver, at the Centennial Building in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in several places around Saint John, New Brunswick," [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040412/HOOPER12 Persona non grata] ", The Globe and Mail, April 12, 2004. News story about the uncertain fate of Hooper's sculptures at the Saint John's post office.] and at the Pilgrim School in Los Angeles.The New Brunswick Museum houses several more of his works [ [http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/english/info_nrelease117.html John Hooper Memorial Exhibition at New Brunswick Museum] , New Brunswick Museum, October 16, 2006.] as does the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

Awards and honours

In 1991, Hooper was the first recipient of the Strathbutler Award For Fine Craft And Visual Arts, a CDN$10,000 annual award given by the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation for New Brunswick artists.Sandra Flood, "Five New Brunswick Artists: Strathbutler Award, 1991 – 1995", Goose Lane Editions, 1997, ISBN 978-0968160107.] In 2000, he won the Miller Brittain Award for Excellence in Visual Arts from the New Brunswick Art Board [ [http://www.artsnb.ca/eng/past_award_recipients.htm Past Award Recipients] , New Brunswick Art Board] and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. [" [http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=333 Investiture of the Order of Canada at Rideau Hall] ", Canadian Governor-General's Office, Nov. 10, 2000.]

References

Additional sources

* [http://www.artathooperstudios.com/11.0.html Artist's statement] , John Hooper, Hooper Studios.
* " [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242558/ John Hooper's Way With Wood] " (1977), an 18-minute documentary sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada, on IMDb.
* Tom Smart, "L'univers de John Hooper", Goose Lane Editions, 2001, ISBN 978-0920674277.