Marion Coutts
Staff details
Marion Coutts is an artist and writer. She works with a range of material forms: sculpture, digital video, drawing and photography. Her practice is concerned with the physicality of the image; artwork and personal encounter; slippage and loss. Her first book, The Iceberg won the Wellcome Book Prize, 2015. She is currently a Senior Lecturer on BA Fine Art and History of Art at Goldsmiths.
She has held solo exhibitions at Tintype, London: Yorkshire Sculpture Park; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Angel Row, Nottingham; Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool; The Wellcome Collection, London; Project Gallery, Dublin and Foksal Gallery, Warsaw. Other venues that have hosted her work include Helsinki Kunsthalle: RIBA, London; Whitstable Biennial; Gasworks, London and Arnolfini, Bristol.
In 2011 her practice shifted to include writing. The Iceberg is an account of a family unit under assault: an investigation into time, language, belonging and the nature of embodiment. “Reading it, you have the sense of something truly unique being brought into the world- it stays with you for a long time after.” Bill Bryson, Wellcome Prize Citation. The Iceberg was published in the UK in 2014, the US in 2016 and mainland China in 2017.
Academic qualifications
- Edinburgh College of Art, BA Fine Art, 1982-1986
- State School for the Arts, Wroclaw, Poland, British Council Scholarship, 1989-90
Teaching
Marion has been a lecturer on BA Fine Art & History of Art at Goldsmiths since 2007. She served as Acting Course Leader on the programme in 2012 and again in 2014. She is currently external examiner at London Met, 2018-2020. Prior to lecturing at Goldsmiths, she has been a senior visiting lecturer at Norwich School of Art and Design, 2004-2005, Associate Lecturer, BA Fine Art, University of the Arts, 2005-2010 and visiting tutor at City and Guilds of London Art School 2002-2003.
Professional projects
In 2018-19 she will hold a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.
In 2016 she was a resident writer at Cove Park in Scotland. She writes on Art for 1843 magazine/ Economist online.
Marion has held a number of Fellowships. She was a Senior Research Fellow at Norwich School of Art and Design, 2007-09, the Kettle’s Yard Fellow at St John’s College, Cambridge in 2003 and the Momart Fellow at Tate Liverpool in 2001. In 1999, she spent six months as a Rome Scholar at The British School at Rome.
Film commissions include, Twenty-six Things, 2008, Wellcome Collection: Everglade, 2003, Film and Video Umbrella and No Evil Star, 2002, Locus+. Her work has been screened at Artprojx Cinema at the SVA Theatre, New York and Rome Film Festival, UK focus.
Following the publication of her book. Marion has appeared on a number of public talks and panels, including Tintype, with Denise Riley; Hay Festival, with Rosie Boycott; Faclan, Stornoway, with Philip Hoare and Amy Liptrot; RSA, with Helen MacDonald; Charleston Festival, with Max Porter; LSE Literary Festival, with Ali Smith; Libreria, with Andrew Solomon, and Edinburgh Book Festival, with Erwin Mortier.
Public discourse around her book crosses into the area of Medical Humanities. Conferences include, EMPATHIES: Empathy and Ethics at the End of Life, University of Basel, Switzerland, 2016, The Chronic: Temporality, Care and Health Research, Symposium, 2016; Modernism’s Chronic Conditions, Temporality, Medicine and Disorders of the Self: University of Exeter, 2015; Medicine Unboxed: Cheltenham, 2015.
Featured publications
Books
- The Iceberg, Winner of the Wellcome Book Prize 2015
Published by Atlantic Books 2014, hardback 294 pp. ISBN 978-1782393504, paperback ISBN 978 17823934528
Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction 2014; the Costa Biography Award 2015; the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Award 2015. Longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2014
Finalist in the National Book Critics Circle Awards of America 2017
Mandarin edition 2015: Spanish edition 2016: US edition 2016: Audible Audiobook 2016: simplified Chinese edition 2017. - English Graphic, Tom Lubbock. Editor, Marion Coutts with an introduction by Jamie McKendrick.
Published by Frances Lincoln: hardback, 208 pp. ISBN 978-0-71123 370-6 - Until Further Notice, I am Alive. Tom Lubbock, Tom. Editors, Marion Coutts and Bella Lacey. Introduction by Marion Coutts.
Published by Granta: hardback, 160pp. ISBN 978-1-84708-531-3
Printed Matter
-
Marion Coutts. Zine: publication, limited edition of 300, published to accompany the exhibition, Aiming or Hitting, Tintype, London 2017
Shows / Exhibitions
- Marion Coutts. Aiming or Hitting, Tintype, London, 2017
Fellowships / Residencies
- Marion Coutts, The Islands Arts Writing Residency, Fogo Island, Newfoundland with Artspace Gibralter Point, Toronto. 2018
- Marion Coutts. Cove Park Literature Residency. 2016
Publications and research outputs
Show/Exhibition
Coutts, Marion. 2021. Where to Stand in the Wind. In: "Where to Stand in the Wind", Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, East Carlton Country Park, United Kingdom, 31 July – 3 October 2021.
Coutts, Marion. 2019. 1d for Abroad. In: "1d for Abroad", Tintype Gallery, United Kingdom, 7 March – 6 April 2019.
Coutts, Marion. 2018. Women Power Protest. In: "Women Power Protest", Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, United Kingdom, 10 November 2018 - 31 March 2019.
Coutts, Marion. 2017. Aiming or Hitting. In: "Aiming or Hitting", Tintype Gallery 107 Essex Road London N1 2SL, United Kingdom, 10 March – 13 April 2017.
Coutts, Marion. 2006. Ein Bolzplatz fur die Kunst/ Ball of Fame, Young International Artists. In: "Ein Bolzplatz fur die Kunst/ Ball of Fame, Young International Artists", ex-Vitra Design Museum, Berlin, Germany.
Coutts, Marion. 2005. Money. In: "Money", The Tabernacle Trust, Powis Square, 1/15/2005 - 2/26/2005.
Coutts, Marion. 2003. Mountain. In: "Mountain", Kettles Yard, 9/27/2003 - 11/2/2003.
Coutts, Marion. 2003. Everglade. In: "Everglade", Firstsite, The Minories: 7 June-3 August 2003 Angel Row Gallery: 14 Jan-28 Feb 2004 2 Princelet St: 1 May-16 May 2004, 6/7/2003 - 5/16/2004.
Coutts, Marion. 2002. Cult. In: "Cult", Chisenhale Gallery, United Kingdom, 9/4/2002 - 10/13/2002.
Leventon, Rosie and Coutts, Marion. 1991. Rosie Leventon and Marion Coutts: Installation. sculpture. works on paper. In: "Rosie Leventon and Marion Coutts: Installation. sculpture. works on paper", Oriel Gallery and Leeds Polytechnic Gallery, United Kingdom.
Coutts, Marion. 1988. 4th International Triennial of Drawing. In: "4th International Triennial of Drawing", Wroclaw, Poland.
Exhibition Catalogue
Coutts, Marion. 2017. Zine.
Conference or Workshop Item
Coutts, Marion. 2021. 'Care and Waiting'. In: Critical Poetics Summer School 2021: Care Of.... Online, United Kingdom 25 June – 3 July 2021.
Coutts, Marion. 2019. 'Sculpture as Fieldwork'. In: Sculpture as Fieldwork. Henry Moore Lecture Theatre, Leeds Art Gallery, United Kingdom 6 July 2019.
Coutts, Marion. 2017. 'Empathy and Ethics at the End of Life Perspectives from the Medical Humanities: workshop'. In: Empathy and Ethics at the End of Life Perspectives from the Medical Humanities. University of Basel, Switzerland.
Coutts, Marion. 2016. 'Fáilte gu Faclan 2016, The Hebridean Book Festival.'. In: Faclan. An Lanntair,, Kenneth Street, Stornoway HS1 2DS, United Kingdom.
Coutts, Marion. 2016. 'The Chronic: Temporality, Care and Health Research'. In: The Chronic: Temporality, Care and Health Research. Birkbeck, United Kingdom 17 March 2016.
Coutts, Marion. 2015. 'Medicine Unboxed 2015 MORTALITY - ICEBERG - Marion Coutts'. In: Medicine Unboxed: Mortality. Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham, United Kingdom 21-22 November 2015.
Coutts, Marion. 2015. 'Happy Days Beckett Festival'. In: Happy Days: Beckett Festival. Enniskillen, Ireland 23 july - 3 august 2015.
Coutts, Marion. 2015. 'Marion Coutts and Rosie Boycott, Hay Festival'. In: Marion Coutts in conversation with Rosie Boycott. Hay Festival, United Kingdom.
Coutts, Marion. 2015. 'The Brighton and Sussex Medical School Debate Facing Cancer A Brighton Festival Exclusive'. In: The Brighton and Sussex Medical School Debate - Facing Cancer. Brighton Festival, United Kingdom 24 may 2015.
Coutts, Marion. 2015. 'Modernism’s Chronic Conditions Temporality, Medicine, and Disorders of the Self'. In: Modernism’s Chronic Conditions Temporality, Medicine, and Disorders of the Self. University of Exeter, United Kingdom 17 April 2015.
Coutts, Marion. 2015. 'Marion Coutts and Ali Smith: LSE Festival talk'. In: An Eye for Life: Marion Coutts and Ali Smith: LSE Literature Festival. LSE, United Kingdom 24 Feb 2015.
Art Object
Coutts, Marion. 2020. The Spiritual Exercises.
Coutts, Marion. 2008. Reading Columns.
Coutts, Marion. 2008. Twenty Six Things.
Article
Coutts, Marion. 2017. Gathering dust. 1843 magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2017. Hokusai: old man, crazy to paint. 1843 magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2017. Sound: Stories of Hearing Lost and Found by Bella Bathurst – review The Observer. The Observer,
Coutts, Marion. 2017. TILLMANS STOPS YOU IN YOUR TRACKS. 1843 magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2017. WHEN THE EXHIBITION BECOMES THE ARTWORK. 1843 Magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2016. Picasso's Emotional Weather. 1843 Magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2016. NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY’S SCRAPBOOK. 1843 Magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2016. PAINTING THE SPIRIT WORLD Hilma af Klint: first avant-garde painter? 1843 Magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2015. Cornell’s Beautiful Bric-a-Brac. 1843 Magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2015. My Summer with Proust. The Guardian online,
Coutts, Marion. 2015. The Feeling of Finishing. 1843 Magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2015. AGNES MARTIN AND THE GREAT INDOORS. 1843 magazine - The Economist online,
Coutts, Marion. 2015. THE DARK DREAMS OF GOYA’S WITCHES. 1843 Magazine,
Coutts, Marion. 2014. 33 Artists in 3 Acts, Book Review, The Guardian. The Guardian,
Coutts, Marion and Furlong, William. 2003. Audio Arts: Volume 21 No 2. Audio Arts,
Coutts, Marion. 1998. Fine Arts 1998-1999, The British School at Rome. Fine Arts 1998-1999, The British School at Rome,
Audio
Coutts, Marion. 2016. Little Atoms Special: Marion Coutts and Andrew Solomon.
Coutts, Marion. 2015. Marion Coutts: The Iceberg [podcast for 5x15].
Coutts, Marion and Furlong, William. 2002. Marion Coutts interviewed at The Chisenhale Gallery about her work Cult.
Book
Coutts, Marion. 2016. The Iceberg [Mandarin edition]. Taiwan: Mobius. ISBN 978-986-91082-6-3
Coutts, Marion. 2014. The Iceberg. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 9-781782-393504
Coutts, Marion. 2014. The Iceberg [American edition]. New York: Grove Atlantic. ISBN 978-0-8021-2460-9
Coutts, Marion and Fisher, Elizabeth. 2005. Marion Coutts, Kettle’s Yard. Kettles Yard Gallery. ISBN 1-904561-13-6
Coutts, Marion; O'Reilly, Sally; Deary, Vincent; Wood, Katherine and Bode, Steven. 2003. Marion Coutts. Film & Video Umbrella. ISBN 978-1904270058
Acconci, Vito; Coutts, Marion; Norman, Nils; O'Shea, Mick; Rothschild, Eva and Tzaig, Uri. 2001. Vito Acconci/Acconci Studio, PARA-CITIES: Models for Public Spaces. Trouble Shooting. Bristol: Arnolfini. ISBN 0907738664
Lubbock, Tom; Coutts, Marion and Murray, Peter. 2000. Marion Coutts, Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Yorkshire Sculpture Park. ISBN 978-1871480320
Book Section
Coutts, Marion and Lubbock, Tom. 2012. Introduction. In: Marion Coutts, ed. Until Further Notice, I am Alive. London: Granta, pp. 1-9. ISBN 978-1-84708-531-3
Coutts, Marion. 2005. 01. Marion Coutts. In: , ed. Responding to Rome, British Artists in Rome 1995-2005. The British School at Rome. ISBN 978-0904152494
Coutts, Marion. 2005. Contribution to Helsinki photography festival 2005. In: Mika Elo; Brett Rogers and Marjatta Tikkanen, eds. To be continued... / jatkuu...: Helsinki Photography Festival 2005. Helsinki: Valokuvataiteilijoiden Liitto ry / Valokuvagalleria Hippolyte & British Council. ISBN 0-86-355-5489
Coutts, Marion. 2001. Fair Play. In: , ed. Fair Play. London: Danielle Arnaud. ISBN 09537752-7-5
Coutts, Marion and Hopkins, David. 2000. essay by David Hopkins. Co-published by Morning Star with City Art Centre, polygon. Paperback with CD. In: Alex Finlay, ed. Without Day. Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited; Pap/Com edition. ISBN 978-0748662777
Digital
Coutts, Marion. 2001. No Evil Star.
Edited Book
Coutts, Marion, ed. 2012. English Graphic. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-71123-370-6
Coutts, Marion, ed. 2004. Whitstable Biennale. Material. ISBN 978-0954788902
Professional Activity
Coutts, Marion. 2018. The Islands Art Writing Residency.
Coutts, Marion. 2017. Cove Park Literature Residency.
Coutts, Marion. 2017. External Examiner: London Metropolitan.
Coutts, Marion. AICA UK membership.
Project
Coutts, Marion. 2011-2012 Until Further Notice, I am Alive.
Coutts, Marion. 2009. Project Biennale.
Other
Coutts, Marion and Lubbock, Tom. 2011. Great Works: 50 Paintings Explored. Frances Lincoln, London.
Coutts, Marion and Baker, Steve. 2003. The Human Zoo, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle: essay by Steve Baker.
