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Rick Copsey

Senior Lecturer
Fine Art, Art Theory and Practice

Rick Copsey

Rick is a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art Practice and Theory. He studied Fine Art as an undergraduate at Falmouth School of Art and completed his MA in the subject at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has also taught Fine Art at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the universities of Lancaster and Wolverhampton. 
With a studio base in Manchester, Rick has exhibited at Manchester Art Gallery, Cornerhouse (Home), Castlefield Gallery and various alternative spaces within the city. He has also exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. International group exhibitions include the International Painting Biennial at National Museums in Moldova and Romania; Digitalis at Sekler National Museum, Covasna, Romania; Terrain at the Museum of Nonconformist Art, St. Petersburg, Russia; Banal Ground at Parkhaus Gallery, KMZA Kunst und Medienzentrum, Berlin, Germany; Sea Level, Manezh Central Exhibition Hall, St Petersburg, Russia and Cheers! New British Art at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, USA. International solo exhibitions include Paintscapes, Pushkinskaya-10 Arts Centre, St Petersburg, Russia and the National Art Museum, Chisinau, Moldova. Awards include Arts Council England Grants and a ‘Diploma of Honour from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova.’

Rick’s art practice is located within the terrain of painting practice. It is a hybrid practice that uses digital technologies in union with the material fact of paint to explore new possibilities for image making and meaning.

Projects

Paintscapes

“Rick Copsey’s Paintscape photo-series looks like photographs of seascapes but they’re really of wet paint drying. Despite his use of distinctly non-traditional picture-making processes, Copsey is a landscape painter who is in the business of enticing make believe and mystification. Details…

Seascape Series

Within the study of the history of painting, the photographic detail is a device used to reveal the hidden, such as technique, gesture or the genius hand of the artist. The ‘seascape’ macro photographs reference this search but with a more ‘forensic’ approach, a documenting and mapping of the material fact of paint, rather than a search for ‘artistic truth’. Details…

Research

Rick Copsey is a member of the Art and Performance Research Hub.

Exhibitions

Copsey, R., 2015. See View (Solo), OBJECT / A Manchester, 2015.

Copsey, R., 2014. A Sublime Confluence (Solo), Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough, 2014.

Copsey, R., 2014. An Ocean of Storms, Untitled Gallery, Manchester, 2014.

Copsey, R., 2014. Art Projects, Business Design Centre, London, 2014.

Copsey, R., 2014. Detail, H-Space Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand, Usher Gallery, Lincoln, Transition Gallery, London, 2014.

Copsey, R., 2014. International Festival of Miniature Art, Safyanschikova Gallery, Pskov, Russia, 2014.

Copsey, R., 2014. Orheiul Vechi, National Art Museum, Moldova, Museum of Soroca, Moldova, Cupola Gallery, Isai, Romania, 2014.

Copsey, R., 2014. Sublime, Puskinskaya-10 Arts Centre, St Petersburg, Russia, 2014.

Copsey, R., 2013. International Painting Biennial, Constantin Brancusi Exhibition Centre, Chisinau, Moldova.

Copsey, R., 2013. International Painting Biennial, Cotroceni National Museum, Bucharest, Romania.

Copsey, R., 2013. Miniature Art, Dialog Arts Centre, Veliky Novgorad, Russia, 2013.

Copsey, R., 2013. Paintscapes (Solo), National Art Museum of Moldova.

Copsey, R., 2012. New Works (Solo), Untitled Gallery, Manchester.

Copsey, R., 2012. Paintscapes (Solo), Puskinskaya-10 Arts Centre, St Petersburg, Russia.

Copsey, R., 2011. Close-Up (Solo), Rogue Project Space, Manchester.

Copsey, R., 2011. Peering Sideways, Project Space Leeds.

Copsey, R., 2011. Westpakete, Projektraum, Berlin & GRAZ, Regensburg, Germany.

Copsey, R., 2010. Digitalis, Gallery Oldham.

Copsey, R., 2010. Digitalis, Tarpey Gallery, Castle Donington.

Copsey, R., 2010. We Are All In This Together, Bureau, Manchester.

Copsey, R., 2009. Sea Level, Manezh Central Exhibition Hall, St Petersburg, Russia.

Copsey, R., 2008. Digitalis, Sekler National Museum, Covasna, Romania.

Copsey, R., 2008. The Past Sure Is Tense, Casket Works, Salford.

Artefacts

Copsey, R., 2024. 'Erosion 3', UK.

Copsey, R., 2024. 'Paintscape20', UK.

Copsey, R., 2024. 'Untitled2014', Moldova.