Gregory Coates facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gregory Coates
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Coates in 2011
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| Born | March 5, 1961 |
| Alma mater | Corcoran School of Art, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture |
| Style | Social abstraction three-dimensional art video performance |
Gregory Coates, born on March 5, 1961, is an African-American artist. He is famous for his unique style called "social abstraction." This means his art often explores big ideas about society. Coates also creates art that pops out, like sculptures you can walk around, art installations, and public sculptures. Sometimes, he even uses video and performance in his art.
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Early Life and Learning
Gregory Coates was born in Washington, D.C. on March 5, 1961. He grew up in the Carver Langston neighborhood. This area is in the northeast part of Washington, D.C.
Coates was the oldest of eight children. His parents worked hard to support him, his six sisters, and his brother. Gregory Coates studied art at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., from 1980 to 1982. Later, he attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1990.
His Artistic Journey
In the mid-1980s, Coates moved his art studio to Düsseldorf, Germany. While living there, he saw important events leading up to the fall of the Iron Curtain. This was a big change in Europe.
After returning from Europe, Coates started living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In the late 1980s, he met another artist named Alvin D. Loving. At that time, Coates mostly painted pictures of people. Loving encouraged him to try making art from different objects, a style called assemblage. Coates says this was a major step that helped him grow as an artist.
In the late 1990s, Coates had an artist residency in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1996, he saw the effects of the end of apartheid. He also saw a lot of poverty there. This experience changed his art again. He started using materials that were repurposed or recycled.
Coates felt it was important to use recycled items. He saw it as a way to respond to wastefulness in rich countries. He also wanted to highlight the economic problems he saw in Cape Town. Because of this, Coates now mostly uses recycled materials in his artwork.
He uses things like feathers, bike tubes, cardboard, crumpled papers, dirt, old vinyl records, and even the heads of push brooms. He gives his artworks interesting titles to talk about important topics. These topics include Cold War politics, poverty, racism, and the meaning of Black art.
Art Collections and Exhibitions
Gregory Coates's art can be found in many important collections. These include:
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
- Georgia Museum of Art
- The Studio Museum in Harlem
- Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto, Japan.
A large artwork made by Coates is displayed at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In February 2011, Coates also completed an art residency and installation in Verbier, Switzerland. This was part of a series called "Go Tell It on the Mountain: Towards a New Monumentalism."
Awards and Recognition
Gregory Coates has received several important awards for his art. These include:
- Grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation
- Grants from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation
- An emergency grant from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation
