Martin Cooper (born 1 October 1958) is an English

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and a

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. He is the secondary keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, whom he first joined in 1980.

Musical career

Cooper was born in Liverpool. From 1980 until 1989, he was a member of the new wave group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas "Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark" in Bogdanov, Vladimir etal (eds.) (2001) ''All Music Guide to Electronica'', Backbeat UK, , p. 375 Prior to joining OMD, Cooper played the saxophone at some of their concerts, or they used his pre-recorded work. He also played with Dalek I Love You. In 1981, he briefly left OMD to join

Dave Hughes David William Hughes (born 26 November 1970) is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter. He is known for his larrikin personality, drawling Australian accent, and deadpan comedic delivery. Hughes co-hosts ''Hughesy, ...

for a project called Godot. Cooper also made some writing contributions to their songs. His biggest success was " Souvenir", co-written with Paul Humphreys, which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. Besides playing in OMD, Cooper and Hughes wrote film scores for '' C.H.U.D.'' and ''Knights and Armour'' amongst others. After OMD split in 1989, Cooper formed The Listening Pool with ex-OMD members Paul Humphreys and Malcolm Holmes. They also founded their own record label, Telegraph Records. The Listening Pool released one album ''Still Life'', which had one of Cooper's paintings as the

album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-r ...

. The band broke up in 1996. In 2007, Cooper rejoined OMD and continues to record and tour with them to this day.

Painting career

Cooper studied art at the

Laird School of Art The Laird School of Art was a school of art situated on Park Road North, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England, overlooking Birkenhead Park. It was the first public school of art outside London and was given to the town by John Laird. The school ope ...

in Birkenhead. He obtained a first class honours degree in Fine Arts at the Sheffield College of Art in 1980. Since leaving OMD, Cooper has devoted most of his time and energy to his painting. Many of his works are

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

pictures.

Personal life

Cooper is married to Alexandra Bibby, a classical pianist, and they have two sons, Gabriel and Arthur.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Martin 1958 births Living people 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists English rock saxophonists British male saxophonists English songwriters English new wave musicians Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark members Musicians from Liverpool 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century British male musicians British male songwriters 20th-century English male artists