Marcus Coates is an intriguing, humorous, and at times, controversial artist whose work is an investigation into the 'becoming' of an animal. For Coates, "the point of my work has been to explore the degrees to which you can test that boundary and entertain the possibility of becoming something else." In one of his best known works, Journey to the Lower World, he performs a shamanistic ritual, dressed in a deer skin for the residents of a Liverpool tower block facing demolition.
As part of the Artes Mundi Advance Programme in 2007, Coates spent an evening at The Gate in Cardiff, where he introduced and openly discussed his work to a packed house. The programme included selected video excerpts, stills and audio works based around the idea of an inter-species shared consciousness and the evolution of human/animal culture.
Marcus Coates was born in London in 1968 and originally trained as a paitner at the Royal Academy of Art. Recent 2007 exhibitions include the Whitechapel Laboratory, London and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead.
