Scheimpflug Lecture Series - Kevin Cooley

Please join us for a presentation by the artist Kevin Cooley (MFA Photo/Video ‘00).

Fire has long been both a subject and a force in Kevin Cooley’s work—something he has observed, documented, and even orchestrated. But when he lost his home and studio in the Eaton Fire, it ceased to be just an artistic fascination and became an inescapable reality. In this talk, Cooley shares the journey that led him to publish The Wizard of Awe, starting with meeting a fireworks maker named Ken Miller. Miller’s life was defined by fire in ways both mesmerizing and tragic. Now, standing in the aftermath of the fire that changed his own life, Cooley confronts these themes from a new perspective. What does it mean to document destruction when you yourself are affected? How does an artist engage with disaster without becoming consumed by it? Cooley will discuss the unintended consequences of his work with Miller, the burden of witnessing, and the unexpected ways in which photography, storytelling, and personal loss intersect.

Kevin Cooley’s multidisciplinary practice centers on humanity’s volatile relationship with nature, environmental narratives, and climate change—engaging both local and global concerns. His recent focus on fire and its ecological implications took a profoundly personal turn when he lost his home and studio in the 2025 Eaton Fire. Experiencing this devastation firsthand dissolved the boundary between his art and life in a way he never could have anticipated. This loss deepened his connection to the themes he has long explored and sharpened his focus, reinforcing—viscerally—the urgency of his mission. In the face of crisis, his work insists on the necessity of reimagining a future in which renewal remains possible.

Cooley received an M.F.A. in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York. His recent environmentally focused exhibitions include The Jones Institute, Laney Contemporary, Kopeikin Gallery, and the California Air Resources Board. His work is held in the permanent collections of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The California Museum of Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The 21C Museum, and The Nevada Museum of Art. He has also been commissioned for climate-related stories by publications such as The Atlantic, The California Sunday Magazine, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine.

Kevin Cooley, Calaveras Street Roses (2025)

Banner image above:

Kevin Cooley from “The Wizard of Awe”

Published by The Eriskay Connection (2024)

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