Marcus Coates is a contemporary artist and ornithologist living in London. His works, including performances and installations that have been recorded as video art, employ shamanistic rituals in communication with "the lower world", and contrast natural and man-made processes.[1]
Some of his work has focused on housing in Elephant and Castle, South London, including a film (Vision Quest – a Ritual for Elephant & Castle) and an on-stage trance in 2009.[3] In 2013 Coates was a shortlisted for the Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square 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, UK.[4] In 2022 Coates was commissioned by Artangel to make The Directors — five films made in collaboration with individuals with lived experiences of psychosis.[5]
Coates has exhibited extensively internationally since 1999 including Altermodern,[6] the Tate Triennial and Kunsthalle Zurich in 2009 and "Super 8" at the Museum of Modern Art Rio de Janeiro and "Galápagos" at the Centro de Arte Moderna in Lisbon, Portugal in 2013.
Publications
In 2001, Grizedale Arts published the eponymous book Marcus Coates, based on his residency at Grizedale Arts in 1999. This was followed by The Trip which was published by Koenig Books, and documents his installation at the Serpentine Gallery,[7] London in 2011.
