Nathan Coley – Palace, 2015

Nathan Coley’s works investigate the social and political impact of architecture and public space, and their influence on people’s behaviour and ways of thinking. Whether in installations, light sculptures, photography or video, Coley sees his artistic work as a means of establishing communication between a site and an audience: “Objects can speak in my absence” he says. Nathan Coley’s work invites the viewer to reflect on, and engage with, issues of identity, ownership and belief.

Nathan Coley’s illuminated signs contain words taken from a variety of contexts, including extracts from historical texts, popular songs and snatches of conversation. The words BELIEF, MIND, LIFE, LAND, WEALTH represent the five rights of Islam. Previously exhibited in an Anglican church in Norwich, a shopping centre in London, and the Belfry courtyard of the former town hall in Bruges, Nathan Coley’s texts resonate differently in each venue. In the courtyard of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, the title Palace evokes the history of the garden of the Palais Saint-Pierre, formerly the cloister of a royal Benedictine abbey. As the work is deliberately allegorical and ambiguous, the way it is understood will vary according to the position and personal history of each viewer.