Bjorn Copeland (b. 1975, lives and works in Los Angeles) reclaims the discarded waste of contemporary consumer society to produce collages, prints, sculptures and drawings that evince the influence of psychedelia and Pop art. Copeland forages the commercial landscape for these materials, which are then playfully recast, recombined and obscured such that commodified objects, packaging and advertising media become divested of their initial purpose and charged anew. As a co-founder of the experimental rock band Black Dice, Copeland’s artistic career has developed in parallel with his musical one and so the artist's work is also informed by both audio and visual modes of thinking, as can be seen in many of the artist's hypnotic collages and compositions.
Recent solo and two person exhibitions include CLOSING, with Georgie Dickie, organized by Cooper Cole, at Et. Al., San Francisco, Over Easy at Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, Compress/Sustain at China Art Objects in Los Angeles, Joshua Abelow and Bjorn Copeland at Cooper Cole in Toronto, American Fantasy Classics at Green Gallery in Milwaukee, WI and Bjorn Copeland at Jack Hanley Gallery in New York. The artist has participated in PLEASE HAVE ENOUGH ACID IN THE DISH!, organized by Vinny Dotolo at M+B Gallery, Los Angeles, Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth at Division Gallery Montreal @ Four Six One Nine, Los Angeles, Z-ing at Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, Sweet Sixteen at China Art Objects in Los Angeles, This is our Art This is our Music: An Exhibition of Art By Musicians and Music By Artists at David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen and Weird Science at Jack Hanley Gallery in New York.
Copeland received his BFA in 1998 with a focus in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and his MFA from Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2001. Copeland has exhibited across America and internationally.
Consumer Reports: Bjorn Copeland in ARTnews, 2015
Ken Johnson for New York Times Review of Weird Science at Jack Hanley Gallery, 2013
Artforum Review of Bjorn Copeland at Jack Hanley Gallery, 2013