Gregory Coates
Greg was intrigued by art from a young age this was motivated by visits to the Art Gallery of NSW with his maternal grandmother who nurtured his interest. Her appreciation of all art genres grounded his own views on the aesthetic beauty that could be held within paintings and sculpture. He would spend many hours drawing and studying art books throughout his youth.
The early works in watercolours were influenced by Andrew Wyeth and Fredric Bates. He went on to a formal artistic education at Meadow Bank and East Sydney Technical Colleges, later attending Newcastle University and the New York School of Visual Arts.
Whilst residing and exhibiting in America he travelled extensively to many museums and galleries. These travels would clarify his artistic vision and lay the platform for the way his subject matter was approached and rendered.
On his return to Australia, oil painting became his preferred and predominant medium. This was a search for a stronger, richer and more edited result. Greg states that, “oils are a patient layering of texture and pure colour which give depth and a more realistic rendering of the subject not achieved in other mediums.” This is evident in his fastidious observations of the subject.
For Greg, the portrayal and study of the ubiquitous, which is mostly overlooked becomes the focus of his paintings. Therefore, the audience is drawn into the subject which otherwise would have been considered mundane, this induces an emotive engagement to their sublime renditions.
