Keith Coventry
Keith Coventry
born 1958
Born in Burnley, Lancashire, 1958; resides and works in London
Abstract and geometric artist; also a sculptor and curator
Keith Coventry attended Brighton Polytechnic (1978– 81) and Chelsea School of Art, London (1981– 82). He participated in the ground-breaking exhibition Sensation (1997) at the Royal Academy, which introduced a British public to the art of a newly emerged group of controversial artists known as the Young British Artists (YBAs). Although only considered an associate of the YBAs, Coventry was an exhibitor because his work was collected by Sensation exhibition organiser and contemporary art collector, Charles Saatchi. Saatchi had also included Coventry in an earlier YBA exhibition at his St John's Wood Gallery (Young British Artists V, 1995).
Coventry frequently parodies the aesthetics of modern abstract painting, creating works which initially appear abstract but on closer inspection are in fact figurative representations. His work is often socially engaged and charged with the social issues of urban people. Among Coventry's artworks are a visually and thematically powerful series of 'Estate' paintings (among them 'Sceaux Gardens Estate' in the Southwark Art Collection). Such paintings pay homage to early twentieth-century Russian abstract and Suprematist painter, Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935). Other aesthetic and rhythmic influences include the Dutch modern abstraction group, De Stijl. However, Coventry's estate paintings represent a significant departure from such formal abstraction. Instead, Coventry produces linear, block-like, architectural arrangements of a number of 1950s London housing estates, all of which play on the modernist language of abstraction. Coventry's reductive style and aerial outlines of deprived, social housing projects are incredibly powerful in that they challenge the social aspirations of twentieth century modernists – among them abstract artists, architects and town planners – and instead force the viewer to confront the realities and social failures of post-war British modernism.
Coventry is co-founder and curator of City Racing, a not-for-profit gallery located in Kennington. Exhibitors have included contemporary artists such as Sarah Lucas, Gillian Wearing and Fiona Banner.
Coventry is represented by a number of national collections including Tate, Government Art Collection, Arts Council Collection, British Council Collection, National Museum Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru), and the University of Warwick. Among international collections are Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
(Benjamin Angwin – December 2014)
Abstract and geometric artist; also a sculptor and curator
Keith Coventry attended Brighton Polytechnic (1978– 81) and Chelsea School of Art, London (1981– 82). He participated in the ground-breaking exhibition Sensation (1997) at the Royal Academy, which introduced a British public to the art of a newly emerged group of controversial artists known as the Young British Artists (YBAs). Although only considered an associate of the YBAs, Coventry was an exhibitor because his work was collected by Sensation exhibition organiser and contemporary art collector, Charles Saatchi. Saatchi had also included Coventry in an earlier YBA exhibition at his St John's Wood Gallery (Young British Artists V, 1995).
Coventry frequently parodies the aesthetics of modern abstract painting, creating works which initially appear abstract but on closer inspection are in fact figurative representations. His work is often socially engaged and charged with the social issues of urban people. Among Coventry's artworks are a visually and thematically powerful series of 'Estate' paintings (among them 'Sceaux Gardens Estate' in the Southwark Art Collection). Such paintings pay homage to early twentieth-century Russian abstract and Suprematist painter, Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935). Other aesthetic and rhythmic influences include the Dutch modern abstraction group, De Stijl. However, Coventry's estate paintings represent a significant departure from such formal abstraction. Instead, Coventry produces linear, block-like, architectural arrangements of a number of 1950s London housing estates, all of which play on the modernist language of abstraction. Coventry's reductive style and aerial outlines of deprived, social housing projects are incredibly powerful in that they challenge the social aspirations of twentieth century modernists – among them abstract artists, architects and town planners – and instead force the viewer to confront the realities and social failures of post-war British modernism.
Coventry is co-founder and curator of City Racing, a not-for-profit gallery located in Kennington. Exhibitors have included contemporary artists such as Sarah Lucas, Gillian Wearing and Fiona Banner.
Coventry is represented by a number of national collections including Tate, Government Art Collection, Arts Council Collection, British Council Collection, National Museum Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru), and the University of Warwick. Among international collections are Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
(Benjamin Angwin – December 2014)