Cathy Cooper

Cathy Cooper (born November 8, 1960) is a postmodern artist and wardrobe stylist^[1] who lives and maintains a studio^[2] in Los Angeles. Working as a costume and wardrobe designer, for the past 28 years she has been collaborating with directors, musicians, commercial advertisers and photographers. Most recently, Cooper completed the costuming and wardrobe for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's (and ballet) production of Igor Stravinsky's Firebird ballet.^[3]

Her specialty in the media industry is the use of humor and irony; her high-profile wardrobe and costuming work is seen regularly on numerous movies.^[4] In advertising her wardrobe credits on media and commercials include Nike, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Ford,^[5] McDonald's, Clorox,^[6] Orbitz,^[5] Honda, The North Face^[7] and many others. Her work was nominated for the MVPA 2009 Best Costuming Video Award for the Modest Mouse hit single "Dashboard" music video.^[8] Other notable music videos she has produced costuming work for are with bands and artists such as Alice in Chains, The Cramps,^[9] Cut Copy, Sister Mantos,^[10] Hayley Kiyoko,^[11] Stone Temple Pilots, Unwritten Law,^[5] Aerosmith, and Weird Al Yankovic.^[12] Her album/CD jacket design work can be seen with record labels such as Centaur Records,^[13] Geffen Records, Sony Records, Interscope,^[5] and A&M Records. She also works as a professional model for advertising and photo layouts in commercial media.^[14][15][16]

Early years

She was born Catherine McPeak Cooper in Whittier, California, the second daughter of four children (two girls, two boys); the family grew up in nearby La Habra. She is also the older sister of composer/arranger Jack Cooper and the granddaughter (x4) of Mrs. Harriet Blanton Theobald, "Mother of Greenville."^[17][18] Her mother, Georgie, was influential on all four children as a professional pianist, teacher, and aficionado of literature and the arts.^[19] Cathy Cooper's interest in sewing and ability to quickly produce high-quality garments, along with her keen interested in fashion and the graphic arts, were evident. Though she was to become an artist, her athletic ability in the 800-meter run was widely noted on the West Coast and enabled her to receive an athletic scholarship to the University of California at Irvine. She transferred to the art program at California State University, Fullerton and eventually received her BA in Fine Arts from California State University, Long Beach.

Style, media, influences, and music

Cathy Cooper notes the influence of designers such as Edith Head, Coco Chanel, Junya Watanabe, Rei Kawakubo, Henrik Vibskov, Tsumori Chisato, Kenzo, Norma Kamali, Ossie Clark, Alexander McQueen, and Salvatore Ferragamo;^[20] a great deal of her work with costuming is categorized as post-modern urban. She also points to the influence of Gustav Klimt, the Vienna Secession, and German Expressionism artists and movements in her painting and sculpture. "I like to think of myself as a Baroque hobo. On the witchy side."^[20]

"Cathy Cooper's mixed media sculptures describe a natural world that grows out of garbage and decay."^[21] Her sculptures are pieced together with fabric, found objects and paper mache; they are constructed in bright color combinations much like the clothing she designs and has been influenced by.

The Great Sadness

Over the last four years Cathy Cooper has played and toured with her band The Great Sadness.^[22] The duo of Cooper and Stephen McNeely has gained notable exposure in the hard rock, alternative music scene of Los Angeles.^[23] Their new album, “Weep,” was released April 20, 2017. They recorded with Joe Cardamone and the album was mastered by Howie Weinberg.

References

External links

• Cathy Cooper web site
• The Great Sadness