Revel Cooper - Later Art

Later Art

Unlike many of the child artists of Carrolup, Cooper continued painting into adulthood. After leaving school he was briefly engaged as a commercial artist in Perth before moving back to Carrolup to work as a farm worker.

In 1952 Cooper was sentenced to four years jail for manslaughter, the first of a string of jail terms.

In the mid 1950s he had a brief stint in Victoria working for Bill Onus' Aboriginal souvenir business and is considered to have influenced the artistic style of Bill's son, Lin Onus.

During the 1960s with assistance from the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League Cooper was a frequent exhibitor in Victorian galleries. His use of landscapes had by this stage become his signature style.

During a stint in Fremantle Prison in 1976 he was the illustrator of Mary Durack's Yagan of the Bibbulmun, a work of juvenile fiction. While at Fremantle he also contributed a work depicting the Stations of the Cross for a church in Mount Barker. He served as a teacher for a group of artists at Fremantle Prison including Goldie Kelly and Swag Taylor.

For a time he also worked as chauffeur to the Director of Aboriginal Welfare in Melbourne.