Marion Coutts was the eleventh MOMART Fellow at Tate Liverpool, a residency scheme for an artist to develop their practice based in a studio at the dockside gallery. Several of the fellows had an exhibition at Bluecoat at the end of their residency, including Maud Sulter (1991), Elizabeth Magill (1994) and Emma Rushton (1996).

Coutts’ exhibition in 2001 (21 April – 26 May) occupied the whole gallery and featured a series of mixed media sculptural works relating to sport, including a vaulting horse and a series of table tennis tables in the shape of London’s parks (shown here). The gallery then was located in what is now Bluecoat’s café/reception area and opened directly onto the front courtyard. Coutts installed a bank of powerful lights on two panels, echoing the shape and size of Bluecoat’s main entrance, and this brilliantly glowing installation was visible from Church Street.