Marcus Coates

Opening preview 27 June, 6.30 - 9pm

The Whitechapel presents the first solo show of Marcus Coates in London.

Marcus Coates’ performances, made into films, recall the animal cults of pre-modern societies. Whether dressed as a reindeer at a gathering of baffled Liverpudlian housewives or training people to mimic the dawn chorus, his curiously poignant films evoke the spiritual roles of animals in culture combined with a deadpan documentary style.

Marcus Coates was a highlight of The British Art Show 6, and the Whitechapel now presents his recent films. The Whitechapel’s exhibition includes: Stoat, 1999; Out of Season, 2000; Finfolk, 2003; Journey to the Lower World, 2004; and, Voices of Toge, 2006.

Coates’ films are made in the cold light of everyday life, but his aspiration to harness the magic of nature is both absurd and unexpectedly profound. In one of his earliest films, Stoat, 1999, Coates straps some flimsy stilts onto his feet, so that that his uncertain steps evoke the dance of the scurrying mammal. In Out of Season, 2000, he films a solitary football supporter in the depths of a lush forest, chanting like an exotic bird desperately staking its territory and crying out for mates. While in Finfolk, 2003, Coates emerges from the depths of the ocean as a seal that mimicks human behaviour.

In other works, Coates undertakes imaginary journeys to the animal spirit world, enacting shamanic rituals to find solutions for public ailments. Journey to the Lower World, 2004, sees Coates become a spiritual shaman for the residents of a condemned tower block in Liverpool. Wearing antlers and with a deer skin strapped to his back, the film focuses on the baffled response of the audience to the live performance – caught between scepticism and belief, spoof and sincerity.

In Voices of Toge, 2006, the human speech of the film’s subjects is replaced by twittering birdsong. In this utopian world where all species are equal, any meaning is lost in translation and people return to elemental, instinctual responses, including humour and doubt.

Marcus Coates was born in London in 1968. He studied Fine Art at Kent Institute of Art and Design and at the Royal Academy of Art, London. Recent exhibitions have included Dawn Chorus at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK, in 2007 and Coates was included in The British Art Show 6, at various venues across the UK in 2005 – 06. Marcus Coates is currently Co-Director of the Berwick International Film and Media Arts Festival, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK

Marcus Coates is organised by the Whitechapel.

The Whitechapel has entered the most exciting phase of its 100 year history: an ambitious expansion into the former library building adjacent to the Gallery. During the 18-month construction phase the Whitechapel has become the Whitechapel Laboratory with exhibitions, live music, poetry, talks and film via a new entrance at Angel Alley.

Whitechapel Laboratory
Marcus Coates