Purdy Hicks is pleased to present a new exhibition of charcoal drawings by Jonathan Delafield Cook.

Jonathan Delafield Cook (born, London 1965) trained as an architectural draughtsman in Japan, winning many awards for his detailed drawings. After completing his training he returned to England to study at the Royal College of Art (1994 - 1995) receiving the Darwin Scholarship.

Cook's exquisite charcoal drawings of a variety of subjects - cows, flowers, nests, fish, barnacles - have a photographic quality and are made with a remarkable attention to detail. Much of his time is spent in research collections of museums, and he has a strong interest in the areas where art and science overlap. Direct references to a long tradition of rigour and close observation in classification and taxonomic illustration are made, but in the end Cook is engaged in creating works of art for their graphic, abstract or tonal potential.