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Simon Coates

Simon Coates

Observer

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Can Rock Royalty Really Make Art Worth Owning?

Less partisan collectors shouldn't automatically shy away from paintings and sculpture crafted by big-name musicians, though caution is advised.

03.06.2026 4

Observer

Simon Coates

David Cleaton-Roberts On Editions, Authenticity and Printmaking’s Place

“I am always advocating for prints to be seen as important artworks in their own right,” he told Observer.

16.03.2026 10

Observer

Simon Coates

Meet the Collector: Marques Redd On Stewardship, Memory and Collecting Beyond Value

The Redd Family Collection is, he tells Observer, "a river of memory carrying Black artistic vision forward into the present.”

16.02.2026 100

Observer

Simon Coates

Joseph Wright of Derby’s Theater of Enlightenment at London’s National Gallery

The exhibition focuses on the period when the artist used concentrated sources of light to create atmosphere and build anticipation.

16.12.2025 20

Observer

Simon Coates

Cultural Memory and the Concept of Country in “Emily Kam Kngwarray” at Tate Modern

This is artwork that can lift the lowest of spirits.

14.11.2025 20

Observer

Simon Coates

At Tate Britain, Edward Burra and Ithell Colquhoun Are a Two-for-One Deal

Dual exhibitions trace how Britain’s 20th-century artists engaged with myth, sexuality and politics on their own terms.

28.08.2025 20

Observer

Simon Coates

‘Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985–2025’ at ICA London Is a Stark Reminder of What Has—and Hasn’t—Changed

The urgency of Lubaina Himid’s original curatorial mission remains painfully relevant.

05.08.2025 30

Observer

Simon Coates

Courtauld Gallery’s ‘Abstract Erotic’ Revisits Structural Sexuality in Sculpture

At times more coy than carnal, works by Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Alice Adams explore eroticism through ambiguity, restraint and form.

02.08.2025 20

Observer

Simon Coates

José María Velasco’s Mexico Glows at London’s National Gallery

The exhibition offers a rare opportunity for U.K. audiences to engage with one of Latin America’s most influential painters.

18.06.2025 10

Observer

Simon Coates

Looking Back at 25 Years of Tate Turbine Hall Commissions

From Doris Salcedo’s 'Shibboleth' to Kara Walker’s anti-imperial fountain, the commissions have frequently challenged viewers to reckon with...

17.05.2025 20

Observer

Simon Coates

Noah Davis’ Legacy Lives On in the Barbican’s Poignant Retrospective

An entire room of this moving survey is dedicated to the late artist's now-shuttered Underground Museum.

07.04.2025 20

Observer

Simon Coates

Linder in London: Charting a Course from Buzzcocks Provocateur to Brit Art Treasure

The artist's largest retrospective to date at the Hayward Gallery charts a fierce, decades-long practice that blends photomontage, punk feminism and...

02.04.2025 20

Observer

Simon Coates

The Royal Academy’s “Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism” Is a Mixed Bag

This decades-spanning survey offers insight into the development of Brazilian artistic identity but lacks verve.

17.03.2025 30

Observer

Simon Coates