This outdoor artwork by Scottish artist and Turner prize nominee, Nathan Coley (b.1972) will be sited in the grounds of The Bowes Museum this summer. Towering 7 metres tall, Coley’s striking illuminated text installation, You Create What You Will invites the viewer to reflect on the profound power of creation. The artwork is one in a series of Coley’s public announcements that have been shown around the world to great acclaim.

Evolving from a re-envisioning of an Old Testament text, You Create What You Will is typical of Coley’s practice, which is based on an interest in public space, and how systems of personal, social, religious and political belief structure our towns and cities, and thereby ourselves.

As a museum of artists, designers and makers, the ability to imagine what has not yet come to pass, and the power of creativity as a tool to shape the world, are central our value-system. Created by both the physical desire and intention of founders Joséphine and John Bowes and ‘willed’ through their legal documentation after death, Coley’s illuminated text resonates deeply with the museum’s foundation and future purpose.

Image: ‘You Create What You Will’ (2014), Nathan Coley at St.Mary’s Church, Glynde, East Sussex, England.
Courtesy studioNathanColey, The Page Gallery Seoul
Photography: Keith Hunter