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After predominantly producing abstract work in recent years Ewen Coates’ art practice takes a
humanistic turn in his upcoming solo exhibition Hummer and Cyclo in which he considers the rise
and fall of civilizations.
Inspired by a recent trip to Cambodia, this body of work takes the form of a sculptural installation
and is an allegory of love and brutality, evoking the possibility of recurring histories, the forces
that shape them and how we, as individuals, take part in this cyclic journey.
The title for the exhibition Hummer and Cyclo is a play on the Hammer and Sickle, the communist
motif displaying the unity between industrial and agricultural workers. In this, Coates cites the kind
of Agrarian rule adopted by Pol Pot, its catastrophic failure and its transition into a new society that
flaunts its wealth with expensive 4WDs, while the rest make do with motor bikes and tuk-tuks.
Cambodia’s motorbike riders, often young couples or families on bikes carrying up to four
passengers – array of legs and tangled arms - fascinated Coates. To him the image of these riders
was reminiscent of multi-limbed Hindu deities, sculptures of which are prolific within the Wats
dotted around the country.
Ewen Coates holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Victorian College of the Arts (1999)
and a Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art, from Deakin University, Warrnambool (1985). He has held a
number of solo exhibitions including Hatchlings, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne (2011); Post
Velcro, Deakin University Art Gallery, Victoria (2010); and Overground, Gippsland Regional Art
Gallery and Warrnambool Art Gallery (2007). Coates has participated in group exhibitions at a
number of important venues including presenting his work at Art Stage Singapore 2013 and the
Melbourne Art Fair 2012 both with Anna Pappas Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, Tokyo
Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne. Coates has
been a finalist in the Melbourne Sculpture Prize, Mt Buller Sculpture Award, McClelland Sculpture
Survey and Award, Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Prize and the Lorne
Sculpture Festival. His works are held in various public gallery collections in Australia including
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Werribee Park Sculpture Walk and the Deakin University Collection
as well as in private collections in Australia, United States and United Kingdom. Coates is
represented exclusively by Anna Pappas Gallery.
Anna Pappas Gallery
2–4 Carlton Street Prahran
Victoria 3181 Australia
