Marcus Coates: A Quest for Visions – Contemporary Art & the Church

One of the most intriguing individuals at work in the art world today is Marcus Coates, a curiously atavistic figure, part-shaman, part-performance artist, whose most recent venture has been a long-term residency in and around London’s Elephant and Castle, documented in film as Vision Quest – A Ritual for Elephant and Castle. Coates presents himself as a modern urban shaman, an intermediary who performs ritual journeys into animal and bird spirit worlds on behalf of a community in need of spiritual guidance, in this case the soon-to-be-evicted residents of the estates around this area of London, in preparation for its proposed redevelopment.