Kevin Coates creates visual poetry. Known for the symbolic imagery of his work, the fearless use of a vast array of materials allied to extraordinary modelling and carving skills, he is considered by many to be Britain’s leading artist-goldsmith. Erudite and multi-talented, he is also a musician, specialising in the baroque mandoline, and has performed in concerts and recordings throughout Europe, accompanying ballet and opera obbligati.
Kevin Coates was born in Kingston, Surrey, but grew up in West Sussex where he took his Foundation course. This was followed by a first degree at Central School of Art, and an MA in Jewellery Design at the Royal College of Art. His PhD, from the Department of Cultural History at the RCA (the first ever to be awarded) was A Study of the use of mathematics in stringed musical-instrument design, later published as Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie by OUP. Among other distinctions, he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Art, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
Coates’s work appears in major private and public collections worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Museums of Scotland, the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection, Richmond Virginia, The Silver Trust for No. 10 Downing Street, and the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London. He has had solo shows at Goldsmiths’ Hall, The V&A, the NMS Royal Museum, the Museo Correr in Venice, Kennedy Galleries New York, Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge Mass, Ruthin Craft Centre, and the Harley Gallery. A Notebook of Pins, a collection which started as he was appointed Associate Artist at the Wallace Collection, was shown in 2007, before going on tour in America and the UK. It was also exhibited at COLLECT @ Saatchi Gallery in May 2010, in RCC’s Solo Space.
His time as Associate Artist at the Wallace Collection culminated in the highly successful exhibition Time Regained, which ran from June to September 2011. His most recent major solo show A Bestiary of Jewels opened at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in January 2014, and toured the UK for from April to November. A film made to accompany the exhibition Kevin Coates the making of a Bestiary (YouTube) shows the artist at work in the studio, and making music with friends.
A monograph on the artist and his work Kevin Coates – A Hidden Alchemy was published by Arnoldsche Art Publishers in 2008, to extensive critical acclaim. Featuring chapters on the Jewels, the Table-pieces, and his occasional series of ‘Mozart’ jewels, there is also a chapter written by his wife, Nel Romano, on The Birthday Jewels, to celebrate the annual gifts which the artist has made for her.