Wonky Wheel Gallery and The Moot Hall will host a summer exhibition of work by Essex-based typewriter artist James Cook
Back in the summer, James Cook hit the headlines when a piece of his work created on a typewriter, a portrait of Tom Hanks, received a signed response from the Hollywood star. Up until May 2022, Cook had mostly typed London-based and Essex countryside subjects as a result of residing and working in these areas. Now he has a new series of ‘World Landmarks’ for his summer 2022 exhibition, which broadens the horizon and possibilities of the typewriter medium. Many of his latest drawings are based on old family photographs or fond memories of a particular holiday.
What is unique about the exhibition is that it spans two venues, Wonky Wheel Gallery in Finchingfield and The Moot Hall in Maldon. At The Moot Hall you will be able to see his largest work to date alongside a display of typewriters, whilst at Wonky Wheel Gallery there will be ten new original works on show. Both venues will be selling limited edition signed prints of all his work to date.
Cook has a slogan he uses for his work, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, because each drawing not only is a random assortment of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks puzzle-pieced together, but there are also hidden messages for the viewer to find when looking at the drawing up-close. His largest panoramic drawing to date could take a good 20-30 minutes for the visitor to fully appreciate the scale and content of the work.
Wonky Wheel owner Mary Turley says: “I’m so excited to have James open our Summer Exhibition again this year, it’s a fun and interactive exhibition for the visiting tourists to Finchingfield for our first post covid summer trading.”
The Summer Exhibition will until 7 August 2022, and you can catch James at the Moot Hall on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and at Wonky Wheel on Wednesdays throughout the exhibition. Entry to both venues is free.
