There Will Be No MIracles Here, Edinburgh

Nathan Coley (born 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland, where he currently lives and works) is a contemporary British artist who was shortlisted for the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

in 2007 and has held both solo and group exhibitions internationally, as well as his work being owned by both private and public collections worldwide. He studied Fine Art at

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...

between 1985 and 1989 with the artists Christine Borland, Ross Sinclair and

Douglas Gordon Douglas Gordon (born 20 September 1966) is a Scottish artist. He won the Turner Prize in 1996, the Premio 2000 at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 and the Hugo Boss Prize in 1998. He lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Work Much of Gordon's w ...

amongst others. The use of found phrases and objects in Coley's work is explained by Tim Hunt, he states that Coley's isolation of these words: "relieves them of specific historical reality and relieves them of a specific historical reality and returns them as representations pitched between aphorism and haiku." Nathan Coley's most recent show entitled ‘The Future is Inside Us, Not Somewhere Else’ ended in 2019 at Parafin Gallery, Mayfair. The works on display there were also shown at Edinburgh Parliament Hall. Alongside this exhibition, Nathan’s illuminated text ‘THE SAME FOR EVERYONE’ is currently placed on Cunard Place in London, as part of the 9th edition of Sculpture In The City.

Life and work

In 2004, Coley exhibited at The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh. In ''Nathan Coley'', the artist constructed a series of scaled down, cardboard replicas of all of the religious buildings in Edinburgh. In''Lamp of Sacrifice'', 286 miniature sites of worship are placed in direct confrontation with one another, exploring how religious buildings are characterised by competing social ideologies. In 2007, Coley was nominated for the Turner Prize for his exhibition at

Mount Stuart Mount Stuart is a mountain in the Cascade Range, in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the second highest non-volcanic peak in the state, after Bonanza Peak and seventh-highest overall. Mount Stuart is the highest peak in the Stuart Range, and ...

, Isle of Bute, the public installation Camouflage Church, Santiago de Compostela, Spain and his contribution to the group exhibition 'Breaking Step – Displacement, Compassion and Humour in Recent British Art' at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Serbia. For his exhibition at Mount Stuart in 2006, Coley displayed an illuminated text, ''There Will Be No Miracles Here'', on a scaffolding framework high by wide erected within the house's 18th century landscaped garden. Investigating the relationship between the rational and the spiritual, Coley's sculpture went on to be exhibited at

Tate Liverpool Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corpo ...

and the

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is part of the National Galleries of Scotland, which are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The National Gallery of Modern Art houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to th ...

, where it became part of the collection in 2010. In 2010–2011, ''The Ballast Project'' was built for the Government Buildings Agency as a commission for the National Maritime Museum (Het

Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum The National Maritime Museum ( nl, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, ) is a maritime museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The museum had 419,060 visitors in 2012. It ranked as 11th most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2013. The museum had 300,00 ...

) in Amsterdam. This installation groups together a collection of bricks which were originally used as ballast for ships departing from the Netherlands for the West India Company during the 17th century. In 2011, Coley exhibited at the ACCA ( Australian Centre for Contemporary Art) in Melbourne. ''Appearances'' consisted of vast concrete platforms elevated off of the floor with adjoining steps. Inspired by

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

's architectural designs, Coley's ''Landings'']are characterised by a sense of theatricality which renders the viewer, or participant, aware of his or her interaction with the work. ''In Memory'' is an installation which was created in 2011 in Edinburgh at Jupiter Artland. ''In Memory'']consists of an enclosed, artificial graveyard on the edge of an area of Scottish woodland. By chiselling out the names on the salvaged tombstones, Coley draws our attention to the manner in which we invest architectural objects with individual meaning. Coley's exhibition ''A Place Beyond Belief'' showed at

Haunch of Venison Haunch of Venison was a contemporary art gallery operating from 2002 until 2013. It supported the work of contemporary leading artists, presented a broad and critically acclaimed program of exhibitions to a large public through international exh ...

in 2012 and included a range of photographic and sculptural work relating to the ritualised nature of protest and mourning. Included in the show was an illuminated, scaffolded text, ''A Place Beyond Belief'', which was originally sourced from the testimony of a New Yorker describing a subway journey she made in the days following the 9/11 attacks. An edition of the work was also unveiled outside Kosova Art Gallery in Prishtina, Kosovo on the occasion of their independence from UN supervision . Coley has had many international solo exhibitions including those at Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon in 2001 and Westfalischer Kunstverein, Munster in 2000. His work was also included in ''Days Like These'', a group exhibition at Tate Britain in 2003, and his film ''Jerusalem Syndrome'' was on view at the Cooper Gallery in Dundee in 2005. Coley has been awarded with the Artist Award, Scottish Arts Council (2003, 1996), Henry Moore Fellowship (Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, University of Dundee (2001), Creative Scotland Award, Scottish Arts Council (2001), Scottish Cultural Enterprise, 'Scotland's Year of the Artist,' Public Art Initiative Scheme, Scottish Arts Council (2000) and the RSA, Art for Architecture Award (1997).

Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions & Projects * 2019 The Future Is Inside Us, Its Not Anywhere Else, Parafin Gallery, London * The Future Is Inside Us, Its Not Anywhere Else, Parliament Hall, Edinburgh * 2017 Palace, The Dick Institute, Kilmarnock * For Other People and Other Works, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, Germany * Nathan Coley, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh * Nathan Coley, Parafin Gallery, London * The Same for Everyone, Arhus2017 * 2015 You Create What You Will, New Art Centre, England * Nathan Coley, Mezzaterra11 Flat Gallery, Italy * Portraits of Dissension, House Festival, Brighton * 2014 You Imagine What You Desire, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh * The Lamp of Sacrifice, 286 Places of Worship, Edinburgh, Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow * 'From the People, to the People, for the People, Future Perfect, Singapore * 2013 A Place Beyond Belief, NDSM-Werf/Neuw Dakota, Amsterdam * Burn the Village, Feel the Warmth, The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney * Nathan Coley, Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany * 2012 Knowledge, Kindness and Courage, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver * A Place Beyond Belief,

, London * 2011 Appearances, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne * 2010 in Memory,

Jupiter Artland Jupiter Artland is a contemporary sculpture park and art gallery outside the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Jupiter Artland Foundation is a registered charity that is supported by classes, workshops, events, ticket sales, and donations. It is open ...

, Edinburgh * 2008 De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, UK * 2007 Nathan Coley, Doggerfisher Gallery, Edinburgh * 2006 Nathan Coley,

, Isle of Bute, Scotland * 2005 Jerusalem Syndrome,

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

Cooper Gallery, Dundee, UK * 2004 Nathan Coley,

Fruitmarket Gallery The Fruitmarket Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since its opening in 1974, the gallery has become part of the Scottish contemporary art scene. After a period of closure to undergo a significant renovation, the ga ...

, Edinburgh, UK * 2003 Black Tent,

Portsmouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in the centre of Old Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Portsmouth and the seat of ...

, Portsmouth, UK (catalogue) * 2002 Ruskin's Road, Leidsche Rijn, Netherlands (as part of 'Super Utrecht') * 2001 Nathan Coley and Bas Jan Ader, Vilma Gold, London, UK * 2000 International Style,

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...

, London, UK * 1999 Der Standard,

Museum in Progress museum in progress is a private art association based in Vienna. The non-profit art initiative was created in 1990 by Kathrin Messner and Josef Ortner († 2009) with the aim to develop new presentation forms for contemporary art. The projects ...

, Vienna, Austria * 1998 A Public Announcement, The Changing Room, Stirling, UK (catalogue) * 1997 Urban Sanctuary: a public artwork, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (catalogue) * 1996 Nathan Coley, Galleri Index, Stockholm, Sweden (catalogue) * 1992 Pure Ideas in a Wicked World, Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews, UK (catalogue) Selected Group Exhibitions * 2012 Crisis Commission,

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

* 2011 Communities without Propinquities, Milton Keynes Art Gallery, London * 2009 Mythologies, Haunch of Venison London, UK * 2008 Tales of Time and Space, Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone, UK * 2007 The Turner Prize, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK * 2006 Northern City (Between Light & Dark), The Lighthouse, Glasgow and Florence, Italy * 2005 British Art Show 6, BALTIC, Gateshead, UK (catalogue) * 2004 The Stars Are So Big, The Earth is So Small….Stay As You Are, Schipper & Krome, Berlin, * 2003 Independence, South London Gallery, London, UK * 2002 Recent Acquisitions, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, UK * 2001 Audit, Casino Luxembourg, Luxemburg (catalogue) * 2000 Jahresgaben 2000, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster * 1999 Blue Suburban Skies, Photographers' Gallery, London, UK * 1998 in Visible Light, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (catalogue) * 1996 Girls' High, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, UK (catalogue) * 1995 Swarm, Travelling Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (catalogue) * 1994 New Art in Scotland, CCA, Glasgow, UK; Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, UK (catalogue) * 1993 Pure Fiction, Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow, UK * 1992 Love at First Sight, The Showroom, London, UK * 1991 Speed, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, UK * 1990 Fem fra Glasgow, Hordaland Kunstner Centrum, Bergen, Norway

Residencies

* 2002 Lockerbie, The Scottish Court in the Netherlands, Holland (unofficial) * 2000 Paisley University, Chemistry Department * 1992 Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews

Publications

* Nathan Coley, to the Bramley Family of Frestonia, a publication documenting his public art project in London. 2015 * Nathan Coley, Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute, Scotland 2006 * Fiona Bradley, Building the Imagination by Politics of Space: Architecture, Truth and other Fictions in the work Nathan Coley by Susanne Gaensheimer * Nathan Coley – There Will be no Miracles Here, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh/Locus +, Newcastle upon Tyne * Natalie Rudd, Nathan Coley, in Days Like these (Exhibition catalogue), Tate Britain. 2003 * Judith Nesbitt, On being Sane in Insane Places, in Days Like These (Exhibition catalogue), Tate Britain, 2003 * Isabel Carlos, Caci n’est pas un…, in From Work to Text. Dialogues on Practise and Criticism in Contemporary Art, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon * Natalie Rudd, In the City, in Fabrication (Exhibition catalogue), Cube Gallery Manchester 2002. * Here + Now (Exhibition catalogue). Dundee Contemporary Arts 2001 * Elisabeth Price, Small Gold Medal, Bookworks, London 2001 * Magda Kardasz, Happy Outsiders (Exhibition catalogue) Zachenta Pañstwowa Galeria Szuki, Warsaw 2002 * A Maifesto for Bournville, in In the Midst of Things. Edited by Nigel Prince and Gavin Wade, August Media 2000 * A Republican Heaven on Earth. An interview with Boris Kramer, Audit Casino Luxembourg Forum d’art contemporain

Notes and references

External links