A strange new show at the Wallace Collection, but periodically a fascinating one, says Tom Jeffreys.
Recent exhibitions at the Wallace Collection seem to have gone one of two possible routes. Shows like the near-universally panned Damien Hirst paintings clearly aimed at bringing a new generation of visitors inside its elegant interior; whilst 2011's selection of works by Antoine Watteau seemed pitched squarely at the institution's existing audience – the art-loving retirees up from the home counties for a day of culture. That the Watteau display coincided with the Royal Academy's exhibition of drawings by the artist more than confirms this impression.
The current show however – Time Regained by artist-goldsmith Kevin Coates – seems to be trying to do both, and interestingly it actually works. What I like about Coates is that he's exploring complex ideas – the kind frequently grappled with in a fairly half-hearted manner by legions of young conceptual artists dosed up on cultural theory – but in a manner that's more 'craft' than 'art' as its currently perceived. Perversely, these days high art (if Tate Modern and the Saatchi Gallery are anything to go by) is dominated by crudely produced tat, whilst it's low art that is now the domain of skilled craftsmanship. Even artists who utilise elements of craft (most obviously Grayson Perry) often do so in a deliberately crude fashion, ironically questioning ideas around 'outsider' art perhaps or the discrepancy between high and low art. Coates' work then is something of an anomaly – exquisitely detailed, technically complex craftsmanship, that is also conceptually rigorous and as concerned with process as it is with result.
The exhibition itself splits into two sections – a selection of past works, including chalices, goblets, candlesticks, and a range of jewellery produced by the artist as birthday presents for his wife, followed by a series of recent pieces produced in direct response to some of the masterpieces from the Wallace Collection, where Coates has been Associate Artist since 2007. 
Coates' aesthetic is noticeably theatrical – the kind that appeals to shoppers at Hampstead Bazaar – and much of it is not entirely to my tastes, but there's no getting round the levels of skill and imaginative power on show. For me the highlight from the older works is Waiting For Joan, a restrained little piece in malachite, coral, gold and ebony that seems to embody a tension between medieval symbolism and Art Deco geometry.
But for me it's the second section that really shines, as Coates' unique creative vision is acutely focused in response to a range of great works – paintings by Poussin, Fraggonard and Rembrandt, as well as 17th century furniture, an eighteenth century ewer and a sixteenth century bowl. Coates' careful research is evident in the details: the crickets hidden amongst the patterns in Boulle marquetry; geometric diagrams laid over the stage scenery background of Lancret's Mademoiselle de Camargo Dancing; the equation for Newton's law of universal gravitation emblazoned on a shiny red apple...
Unfortunately, this aspect of Coates' work is done few favours by housing the show in those strangely anodyne galleries down the stairs from the restaurant. Surely Coates' creations could be exhibited alongside the masterpieces from the collection to which they so specifically refer? It would not only create a more dynamic sense of discovery and adventure but also encourage the first-time visitor to explore the entire museum, not just the one room.
The show still shines though, the highlight for me being Un Capiccio per il Consul Smith, inspired by one of Canaletto trademark views of Venice. The resulting work features collaged workings – page numbers, figures, references, codes and diagrams – as well as something called a gallery glass, once used for viewing the detail in a work of art (“when detail,” Coates notes ruefully, “was part of the language of painting”). Here it is both presented – housed in turquoise and coral with delicate gold figures – and re-presented, in diagrammatic form. There's a sort of double play here, as a specific point from the original work is repositioned within another system of thought or meaning, which in turn leads to the construction of an object through which it is itself viewed. It's complex, but in places, genuinely beautiful.
Kevin Coates - Time Regained is at the Wallace Collection until 25th September 2011.
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