14/08/15
Interview: Nathan Coley
Nathan Coley: A Place Beyond Belief
Bruges Triennial
20 May – 18 October 2015
Nathan Coley, who was born in 1967
in Glasgow, sculpts words and phrases out of light – but, very particularly, he
uses old light bulbs and scaffolding to create a nostalgic, fairground
aesthetic, eschewing neon and its advertorial connotations. Although he accepts
full responsibility as the author of the work, the words come from all manner
of sources, and, in the varying contexts in which the ensuing works are shown,
they gain all manner of meanings, some universal, some unique to the individual
viewer.
Coley’s works explore architecture
and religion, although he is more interested in what is built by whom and where
and why than the building itself. Likewise, he holds no formal faith.
Coley was nominated for the Turner
Prize in 2007, losing out to Mark Wallinger. Tom
Lubbock wrote in the Independent: “He may well be the most boring artist in
Britain. His work is so dull to look at that you swiftly turn to a printout in
search of an explanation – and find the work is wholly explained by its
explanation but not made the slightest bit more interesting.” I disagree.
Coley’s works are as appealing as they are subtle, as intriguing as they are
seemingly simple. They carry layers of possibility and, as Coley points out,
are “very photogenic”.
Read this interview here