Cooke is a British-born painter and sculptor who creates large-scale works. His pieces are often desolate and bleak, portraying cigarette butts, wrecked cars and various forms of debris. Other paintings witness more romantic landscapes, demonstrating his versatility.

His 2003 piece “Mirrors” sees a fusion of styles as he captures a single blooming flower in the vast setting of a dark woods and minimal plant life. “Silva Morosa” captures moss growing on a rock wall, but then breaks its serenity as a skull is carved out of the moss.

His work is included amongst the collections of New York’s Guggenheim, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and London’s Tate Gallery, as well as others.