You Have to Be a Detective in Venice

Why It Matters

The talk links artistic habit‑breaking to societal decision‑making, urging leaders to question routines and embrace constructive disruption.

Key Takeaways

• Artist treats painting decisions as daily habit choices.
• Geometric shapes act like mirrors reflecting unseen realities.
• He seeks to capture the feeling of living now.
• Figuration builds, abstraction erases—creating a continuous dialogue between forms.
• Destroying control forces new artistic and societal insights.

Summary

In this episode of Bad Habits, the artist reflects on painting as a series of daily decisions, likening each choice to a habit that can be good or bad. He asks how those micro‑decisions shape both his work and broader societal actions, and he uses his notebook sketches as reminders of the questions he wrestles with.

He points to concrete geometric shapes in his canvases, describing them as mirrors that reflect unseen aspects of reality. The tension between figuration, which constructs recognizable forms, and abstraction, which erases them, becomes a visual conversation about control, habit, and the unknown. By deliberately destroying his own sense of mastery, he forces the work to evolve beyond predictable patterns.

Key statements underscore his philosophy: “The language of painting builds and erases itself,” and “Most of that is about destroying my own sense of control.” These remarks illustrate his commitment to a process that is simultaneously constructive and destructive, mirroring the way societies must dismantle outdated practices to innovate.

The broader implication is a call for creators and decision‑makers to scrutinize their routines, embrace uncertainty, and allow the act of erasure to generate fresh perspectives. By treating art as a detective’s investigation, he suggests that habit‑breaking can lead to more authentic expression and, by extension, more thoughtful societal choices.

Original Description

Our first stop at the 2026 Venice Biennale: Nigel Cooke’s “Bad Habits” at Fondazione Querini Stampalia.

Once a 16th-century residence, now a museum and library, the space mirrors the exhibition—layered with different times and histories. For Nigel, painting is a process of decision-making: what to keep, what to erase. It begins with the personal, but points to something larger—the repetition of history, and the return of choices we thought were behind us.

Forms cluster across the canvas, yet feel pushed to the edges. He describes them as small societies, shaped as much by exclusion as by connection. Nigel calls Venice a “floating museum.” His paintings work in a similar way: layered, unstable, and never fully resolved.

Nigel Cooke: Bad Habits

May 5–Nov 22, 2026

Fondazione Querini Stampalia

Venice 🇮🇹