Marcus Coates is a contemporary artist and
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
living in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. His works, including performances and installations that have been recorded as
video art
Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...
, employ shamanistic rituals in communication with "the lower world", and contrast natural and man-made processes.
Career
Coates was born in 1968 in London, UK. He graduated from the
Kent Institute of Art and Design
The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone Col ...
in 1990 and completed his MA at the
Royal Academy Schools
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
, London, in 1993.
Some of his work has focused on housing in
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground station ...
, South London, including a film (''Vision Quest – a Ritual for Elephant & Castle'') and an on-stage trance in 2009.
In 2013 Coates was a shortlisted for the
Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square
The Fourth plinth is the northwest plinth in Trafalgar Square in central London. It was originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, but remained bare due to insufficient funds. For over 150 years the fate of the plinth was deba ...
artwork (2015/16). His proposal for the fourth plinth commission is to cast and install a replica of the "Eagle Rock" at Brimham Rocks in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, UK.
Coates has exhibited extensively internationally since 1999 including
Altermodern
Altermodern, a portmanteau word defined by Nicolas Bourriaud, is an attempt at contextualizing art made in today's global context as a reaction against standardisation and commercialism. It is also the title of the Tate Britain's fourth Triennial ...
,
the Tate Triennial and Kunsthalle Zurich in 2009 and "Super 8" at the Museu de Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro and "Galápagos" at the Centro de Arte Moderna in Lisbon, Portugal in 2013.
Publications
In 2001, Grizedale Arts published the
eponymous
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
book ''Marcus Coates'', based on his residency at
Grizedale Arts
Grizedale Arts is a contemporary arts residency and commissioning agency sited in Grizedale Forest in the central Lake District in rural Northern England. It conducts cultural projects locally, nationally and internationally from its bases at Law ...
in 1999. This was followed by ''The Trip'' which was published by Koenig Books, and documents his installation at the
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, ...
, London in 2011.
Notable exhibitions
* 2013 "Anchorhold – Meetings with Marcus Coates", Hai arts, Island of Hailuoto, Finland
* 2013 "Follow the Voice, City in the City", Canary Wharf Screen, Art on the Underground, London.
* 2012 "Proxy", Kate MacGarry, London, UK
* 2012 "Marcus Coates", Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, UK
* 2012 "Dawn Chorus", Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales, UK
Marcus Coates: Dawn Chorus
AberystwythArtsCentre.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
* 2012 "Follow The Voice", Canary Wharf, Screen, London, UK
* 2012 "Vision Quest: a ritual for Elephant & Castle", Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, London Altermodern
Altermodern, a portmanteau word defined by Nicolas Bourriaud, is an attempt at contextualizing art made in today's global context as a reaction against standardisation and commercialism. It is also the title of the Tate Britain's fourth Triennial ...
,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, Marcus
1968 births
Living people
Artists from London
English contemporary artists
British conceptual artists