A specially commissioned installation created by renowned Glasgow-based contemporary artist and Glasgow School of Art alumnus Nathan Coley, has been unveiled on Sauchiehall Street.
Newly installed on the roof of the Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, the text-based light sculpture displays the thought-provoking phrase, WE ARE THE MONUMENT. The work is comprised of sixteen 46cm-high LED illuminated capital letters mounted on a scaffolding framework spanning 10m.
This new work is one of three Coley artworks which have been brought into Glasgow’s city museum collection by Glasgow Life Museums with support from Art Fund, the national charity for museums and galleries, and the National Fund for Acquisitions.
Coley’s practice – spanning a wide range of media including sculpture, photography, drawing, film, and installation – has achieved significant global acclaim. In addition to having been showcased in many important solo and group exhibitions internationally, they are held in some of the world’s key art institutions and private collections, including Van Abbemuseum (Netherlands), Auckland Art Gallery (New Zealand), The Whitworth (Manchester, UK), and Frac Centre (France).
Coley, who graduated from The Glasgow School of Art in 1989, is best known for his sculptural installations. Driven by research focused on the social aspects of our built environment, his works explore how people and places shape each other, the ways in which communities and individuals relate to public spaces and architecture, and how our systems of personal, social, religious, and political belief structure our towns and cities – and thereby us.
Other text-based illuminated sculptures created by Coley include We Must Cultivate Our Garden (2006), exhibited outside Tate Modern in 2023, and is now part of The Tate Collection; There Will Be No Miracles Here (2006), located at Edinburgh’s National Galleries of Scotland; and Coley’s largest text-based sculpture to date, From Here, All the Worlds Futures, From Here, All the Worlds Pasts (2020), a work created for the Liverpool Biennial.
WE ARE THE MONUMENT takes its title from American social commentator Rebecca Solnit’s 2004 book Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities. Written during the Iraq War, the book argues for optimism in uncertain times. Solnit contends that, rather than static monuments, the true “monuments” of human progress are the forgotten histories, stories, and collective memories of successful social changes. She argues that memory produces hope, serving as a “torch” that illuminates the path for future activism – emphasising the actions and victories of ordinary people and collective social movements.
Nathan Coley said: “WE ARE THE MONUMENT asks why and how we memorialise events, how public statues represent us (or not), who and what they are for, and what role they have in our public life. At a time in our culture when questions of representation and visibility are polarising communities, the work is, hopefully, inclusive, but also challenging.
“The work changes depending on the context and the audience who see it. Here, in its first display site – overlooking the city on the roof of a public building, and beaming its light and message down on Sauchiehall Street – it can take on many forms. It’s speaking to the diverse and ever-evolving community that lives on the street and surrounding areas. It overlooks the burned-out shells of the Mackintosh Building and ABC, and the now-closed CCA – important cultural venues whose legacy may now only be in the memories of those who loved and used them. What, who, and how will the city decide to memorialise them in the future?
“With George Square being renovated and the city changing in exciting ways, this work aims to make us stop and think about what this means and what we want – because in the end, it’s the people of Glasgow that are the monument.”
Glasgow Life Head of Museums and Collections, Jane Rowlands, said: “We’re delighted to have acquired works by internationally acclaimed Glasgow artist Nathan Coley for the city’s museum collection. His innovative creations challenge us to engage in conversations about how we interact with our built heritage, the meaning of the public places we share and occupy, and how we acknowledge and memorialise our past and connect to embrace the future.
“Being able to install WE ARE THE MONUMENT on the roof of the Dental Hospital for the work’s first year of public display enables us to extend our reach in the city beyond our museums’ walls. Its location also supports the ambitions of the Sauchiehall Street Culture and Heritage District redevelopment project that aims to celebrate the history of this much-loved city centre area and take forward its renewal.”
Art Fund Director, Jenny Waldman, said: “This striking public commission by Nathan Coley, overlooking one of Glasgow’s most historic streets, brings a new perspective to the city’s skyline and invites reflection from all who pass by. We’re delighted to support this significant work to enter Glasgow Life Museums’ collection, and we are grateful to our National Art Pass members, whose generosity makes acquisitions like this possible for everyone to enjoy.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Oral Health Directorate General Manager, Lisa Dorrian, said: “Glasgow Dental Hospital and School is a busy and much‑loved part of the city centre, supporting patients and families from across Greater Glasgow and Clyde and beyond. We are delighted to see this artwork installed and to work in partnership with Glasgow Life to bring something positive, creative, and distinctive into the local area.”
For further information on Nathan Coley, please visit studionathancoley.com.
ENDS
About The Glasgow School of Art (GSA)
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education.
Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, fine art, innovation and technology in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
