Jamie Cooper (born 14 June 1964) is an Australian painter and former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

. As a footballer, Cooper was recruited from

Surrey Hills, Victoria Surrey Hills is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 11 km east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Boroondara, Boroondara and City ...

. He made his senior VFL debut with the

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of City of Fitzroy, Fitzroy, the club is base ...

in 1984 and was a fringe player, playing 26 games over four seasons. Cooper is best known for his painting career, and became internationally known for his large-scale historical "dream scene" sporting portraits, featuring a team's star players from throughout different eras, all depicted in their prime of their careers, interacting with each other in a single

locker room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as Changing room, locker rooms, workplaces, schools, transport hubs and the like ...

or on one field. His first such paintings were commissioned for the Australian Football League's

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

to celebrate its

Team of the Century In team sport, team of the century and team of the decade are hypothetical best teams over a given time period. For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). Similarly the team of the decade can be for 10 y ...

in 2001, and within the next decade he had painted similar dream scenes for most AFL clubs, as well as a mural commissioned by the league in 2008 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first game of

, a piece called ''The Game That Made Australia''. In 2008, he completed an uncommissioned dream scene of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

, which the club hung in its foyer and then, in 2011, eventually purchased outright. In the mid 2010s, he was commissioned by several European clubs, including

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Chelsea,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

to paint dream scenes. Cooper is known for including subtle nods to the club's historical events and folklore in the finest background details of his dream scenes.JCAP
Tasmania's Team of the Century
, retrieved 25 September 2010

References

External links

* * 1964 births Living people Fitzroy Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian painters 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-painter-stub