Robert Cooper's
MUSEUM OF THE GREAT APES

Artist In Residence Robert Cooper
"I believe the time has come to change how apes are portrayed."

After a successful career in the motion picture and television industry as a puppeteer/creature-maker (mostly for George Lucas' special effects company, Industrial Light and Magic) Robert Cooper has finally found his artistic passion --- painting portraits of the Great Apes.

In July 2001, Cooper's life changed. Using a new zoom lens on his camera, Cooper found himself looking into the eyes of Cobby, the male chimpanzee at the San Francisco Zoo. "Cobby stared right back at me. Basically, I could tell by looking into his eyes that he was saying to me 'I'm an intelligent being, what are you going to do about it?' The answer that came to my mind was 'Paint your portrait.'" Cooper knew he had found his calling.

So since that day in July, Cooper has devoted his life to not only painting Cobby's portrait but portraits of all the great apes --- gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and bonobos. Cooper's ape portraits and studies now total over 200 paintings based on photographs he has taken at zoos in California, Arizona, Washington and as far away as Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia.

"Throughout history, art has reflected society. Unfortunately, art has been slow in catching up with our current understanding of the great apes or the plight they are facing here at home or in the wild. Sadly, apes are still portrayed as clowns and jesters for human entertainment; referred to as "non-human primates" by science, they are used in medical experiments because they are "all-too-human;" their relatives are being slaughtered in Africa for bushmeat.

"As far as an artist's statement, I do not consider myself a wildlife artist. I paint portraits of individuals who have incredible faces and happen to be apes. I believe the time has come to change how apes are portrayed."

In September 2002, Cooper presented Dr. Jane Goodall with a portrait of David Greybeard, the first chimpanzee to make contact with her during her research at Gombe in Africa. So moved was Dr. Goodall by Cooper's work, she has since made it into a poster and sells it on her website. Cooper feels honored to be helping Dr. Goodall.

"My first goal is to paint a portrait of every ape in every zoo in America" says Cooper. "Everyone of them deserves to have their portrait painted. Human beings need to see their faces and to look into their eyes. Every individual in this exhibit is important because each one of them has the potential to inspire and move the viewer to take action. Perhaps in this way, the captive apes can help save those in the wild."

"I invite everyone to look into their eyes. I believe they will speak to you for themselves."

Mr. Cooper is a member of the Portrait Society of America.