|
|
Nathan Coley was born in Glasgow in 1967. He studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art and is now based in Dundee. Nathan has exhibited worldwide and recently presented Show Home across the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and The Black Maria as part of The Christchurch Biennial, New Zealand as well as featuring in the major survey show of Scottish Art "Here and Now". Nathan is interested in the way the values of a society are reflected in its built environment. As the stage upon which our lives unfold how does the architecture we are surrounded by determine our sense of what is possible? Throughout his practice Nathan has investigated the way that constructed spaces add meaning to our cultural identity. Nathan's past works have involved researching and responding to existing buildings such as the Tower of Belem and Jerominos Monastery in Portugal, both declared World Heritage by UNESCO, the fourteen Churches within Munster, Germany, Bournville Rest House, Birmingham, York Minster and the 161 Places of Worship listed within the yellow pages in Birmingham. The project which best reflects Coley's practice in terms of context and research is his Urban Sanctuary: a public art work commissioned by Stills Gallery, Edinburgh in 1997. Nathan was commissioned to produce an artwork as part of the redevelopment of the gallery and it was stressed that the work must refer to the building and/or processes applied to develop the site. Nathan proceeded to run a series of interviews with "specialists", including an architect, a theologian, a policeman and a feng shui consultant, asking how he might build a sanctuary within Edinburgh. His investigation led him to produce a book compiling the interviews. He then posted notice of planning permission to "build an urban sanctuary here" around Edinburgh with contact details for the gallery. Any interested members of the public, whether interested in complaining or visiting once built, were sent a copy of the book in response to their enquiry. Fascinatingly this project is not only concerned with revealing the unwritten codes of convention that surround physical structures but also questions the possibilities and forms of "public art". For Art and Sacred Places Coley worked with Portsmouth Cathedral - see 2003/4 Programme.
|
||
