The Mystery of Things

The Mystery of Things 1

Kevin Coates creates visual poetry. He approaches all aspects of our physical and metaphysical world with a sense of wonder that is simultaneously childlike in its clarity of vision and highly sophisticated in its complexity of thought. He is passionate about communicating to others his perception of the world and its hidden depths and layers. For Coates, there are always mysteries, tiny or vast, to be marvelled at and explored, and his joy comes from the making of connections – between objects and people, myths and symbols, nature and artefact, philosophy and music, words and materials. His celebration of these interconnections, through his jewels and his larger works, creates delightful and often profound insights as he pursues a multiplicity of disparate threads to see where they might lead him. Coates allows us to glimpse our own world through his eyes, his intellect and his heart; and we are the richer for it.

His mastery of making is combined with an extraordinary degree of conceptual integrity and an instinctive sense of visual and lyrical harmony. With an alchemist’s skill, he can transform the apparently mundane into the indisputably magical. Inanimate objects, redolent with mystery, are given the power of life, and can speak volumes to those willing to hear.

His work demands time: time to gestate, time to make, time to enjoy. If this is your first encounter with the work of Kevin Coates, take time to allow yourself to become immersed in the many layers of beauty, thought and skill encompassed within these pages. These pins, small in scale but rich in meaning, each one resting happily within the ‘comfortable bed’ of its own notebook page, can, like all of Coates’ work, be enjoyed and explored on many different levels. Coates has been exhibiting his work since the 1970s and has had four important solo shows in Britain - at Goldsmiths Hall, London (1981 and again in 1991), the V&A (1985) and Wartski (1995). During the last ten years, however, opportunities within the UK to see full collections of Coates’ jewels have, sadly, been very rare. Within that period he has created, amongst much other work, three major thematic jewellery ‘essays’, two of them variations on a single form - rings and, now, pins; but until now only one of these has been exhibited in the UK (Fragments: Pages Stolen from a Book of Time, shown at the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, in 2000). Much of his work is made to commission, for individuals and major institutions and collections worldwide, and tends to be seen (and used) singly and by limited groups of people. However, as Milton wrote: 2

Beauty is Nature’s brag, and must be shown In courts, at feasts, and high solemnities Where most may wonder at the workmanship

and Coates’ recent acceptance of the post of Associate Artist at the Wallace Collection, certainly a place of high solemnity, is happily for us providing greater visibility.

Having witnessed at first hand the remarkable effect the Fragments exhibition had on visitors to the National Museums of Scotland, where I was formerly a curator, I have long wished for further opportunities to bring his work to a wider public. Many thanks are due to Philip Hughes and Jane Gerrard at Ruthin Craft Centre for enabling A Notebook of Pins to be shown formally, and almost in its entirety, in the UK for the first time; and to Lisa Gee at the Harley Gallery for supporting this accompanying publication of the full collection and for providing a second opportunity for British audiences to see this jewel of an exhibition. 3

I hope you gain as much pleasure from viewing Kevin Coates’ work as I do, and that you will enjoy this rare opportunity to accompany him on his unique journey through the ‘mystery of things’.

Elizabeth Goring Edinburgh, 2009

1 King Lear, William Shakespeare, Act 5, scene 3 2 Comus, John Milton 3 An earlier version of A Notebook of Pins was shown at Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (October – November 2007). Three of the Notebook Pins – Between Dusk and Dawn, An airship for Baron M. and Dream Aengus – are not being shown at Ruthin Craft Centre and the Harley Gallery, although they are included in this publication. Two new Notebook Pins – Oiseau and The Black Sheep – were made for the UK shows.