Penrhyn and Rod Cook, French Postcards

January 14th – March 28, 2021

In French Postcards husband and wife photographers Penrhyn and Rod Cook, who collectively make up PenRod Studio, present their individual interpretations of a trip to southern France in 2019. While the collections may not seem to share a commonality other than location, in statements about eachother’s works, they both note the other’s ability to find, and amplify, beauty.

Full Artist Statements:

Of Rod’s work, Penrhyn states: “There is an atmosphere and intensity to Rod’s photography that I have always found compelling, particularly his treatment of the contemporary nude ... his humanist approach and celebration of women and the female body sets him apart from others. Rod loves stories and his imagery often includes narratives that have something to teach us about society’s standards of beauty, and the Puritan need to cover our bodies. He takes ordinary people and shows them as unique and beautiful.”

Of Penrhyn’s work, Rod states: “Penrhyn’s images consistently surprise me because more often than not she reveals a new layer of her vision and abilities ... She finds beauty in common things, has a razor-sharp eye for irony, and arranges the elements in her frame in unique ways that are often only evident after she has chosen to show you. She takes what’s near at hand and makes it art.”

Most certainly in these challenging times, we could all stand to pause and allow art to transport us to another time and place; to impart the flavor of another country in a time when traveling is not possible for most; to invite intimate connections when physical distance is so often kept; and to make a space for everyday beauties that may seem so often overcome by the darkness of our current days.

Join Penrhyn and Rod for a Special Valentines Day Salon Thrive as they discusse this collection , on Sunday, Februrary 14th at 5pm, on zoom, for our weekly discussion series, SalonThrive. Register HERE.

Take a closer look at each work HERE, or shop the collection online HERE.

Penrhyn E. Cook started making pictures at the suggestion of her photographer husband, Rod Cook, who convinced her to enroll in a photographic workshop rather than spending a vacation sitting on the beach. She has never looked back. Her early work was shot with film and processed as toned, silver gelatin prints. She now works digitally and in her personal work utilizes little manipulation other than that which could be achieved in the darkroom. Her photography documents things that other people overlook; the serendipitous moments that make life interesting: the presentation of contradictions, innocence and humor. Recently, she has been collaborating with her husband, under the name of PenRod, to produce imagery of animal life in Africa and the beauty of Southern France.

Rod Cook worked as a commercial photographer in New York for the first twenty-five years of his career. He has also been managing editor of a magazine, helicopter pilot, and partner in a design firm. He began his fine art career in 1996 with “Cypress Knees and Tupelos”, nudes taken in cypress swamps in and around Savannah, Ga. Since then he has created his own interpretations of botanicals: “FP“and “Fungi“;... landscapes: “Moving Landscapes“;...masks, mannequins and statues: “Animate Objects“;... and nudes wearing Venetian style masks that he made from molds taken from the model’s faces: “Masks“. More recently he has collaborated with his wife, Penrhyn Cook, under the name of PenRod, on imagery of African wildlife “Vanishing” and nudes in Southern France “French Postcards.” He has works in platinum/palladium, digital black and white and color and invented color prints married with encaustic. He has shown extensively in the United States and Europe with one person shows in Aspen, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New Haven, New Orleans, Petaluma, and New York.