Kevin Cooley

Kevin Cooley’s photographic series ‘Exploded Views’ plays with fire to create and document controlled explosions in the desert. His analytical approach to his experiments reflect both a precision and primitive curiosity for the elements.

In his experiments, Cooley delicately mixes and adjust chemicals, resulting in tails of smoke and ember that emanate from iridescent pops of color. It’s easy to appreciate these works as mere aesthetic objects all of which embody Cooley’s striking visual language. At face value, they are studies of time and motion not unlike Eadweard Muybridge’s ‘Animals in Motion’ (1887), Dr. Harold Edgerton’s ‘Bullet Through Apple’ (1964), or even the dynamic compositions of Ori Gerstch’s ‘Exploding Flowers’ series; they, too, sit suspended between the seduction of still life and scientific investigation.

“Visually inspired by wildfires, nebulae, jellyfish, the trails of distant stars, and smoke dynamics, the work also explores the human fascination with natural formations and their shared visual properties.”

— Kevin Cooley