Theaster Gates facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Theaster Gates
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Gates in 2013
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| Born | August 28, 1973 |
| Known for | Installation art, Sculpture |
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Notable work
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Civil Tapestry series (2011-ongoing) Black Vessel for a Saint (2017) |
| Movement | Social practice, Urbanism |
Theaster Gates (born August 28, 1973) is an American artist and professor. He uses art to help communities and improve neighborhoods. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works.
Gates' art has been shown in museums and galleries around the world. His work often focuses on city planning, spiritual places, and different types of crafts. He aims to bring new life to areas that need help by mixing art with ideas for city improvement. Gates' art also highlights the importance of Black history and culture.
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Early Life and Learning
Theaster Gates grew up in East Garfield Park on the West Side of Chicago. He was the youngest of nine children and the only boy. His dad was a roofer, and his mom was a school teacher. His sisters taught him about civil rights activism. His family went to a Baptist church, where Gates sang in the choir and became interested in performing. He went to Lane Technical High School.
In 1996, Gates finished college at Iowa State University. He studied urban planning, which is about designing cities, and ceramics, which is making things from clay. After college, he mostly worked with clay. He spent a year in Tokoname, Japan, learning more about pottery. Later, he studied religion in South Africa. In 1998, he earned a master's degree from the University of Cape Town in fine arts and religious studies.
How Gates Uses Art
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Early Art Projects
Gates' first art projects were based on his training in ceramics and his studies of different religions. Many of his early works explored how pottery is important in both Japanese and African-American cultures.
In 2007, Gates created an art show called Plate Convergence. For this show, he made up a story about a Japanese potter named Shoji Yamaguchi. In the story, Yamaguchi moved to the U.S. after World War II and married a Black woman who was a civil rights activist. They designed a special plate for Black cuisine. Gates made these plates and filmed fake dinner parties where people discussed art and politics. He even had a mixed-race artist pretend to be Yamaguchi's son.
In 2008, Gates created another fictional place for his art. This was an exhibition called "Tea Shacks, Collard Greens and the Preservation of Soul." He called the temporary gallery the Center for the Proliferation of Afro-Asian Artifacts.
In 2010, Gates created an exhibition about the work of David Drake. Drake was an enslaved African-American potter. Gates used Drake's work to talk about craft and race in African American history.
Rebuild Foundation: Helping Communities
Gates started the Rebuild Foundation. This is a non-profit group that uses culture and art to help improve communities that need support. They also create affordable spaces for people. The Rebuild Foundation works in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood of Chicago.
One of their big projects is the Dorchester Projects. Gates bought and fixed up empty buildings on Dorchester Avenue. He turned them into cultural centers. For example, the Archive House holds 14,000 architecture books from a closed bookstore. The Listening House has 8,000 records bought from a closing music store.
Stony Island Arts Bank
In 2013, Gates bought the old Stony Island State Savings Bank in Chicago. This bank is now called the Stony Island Arts Bank. It holds important collections, like the book collection of John H. Johnson. Johnson founded Ebony and Jet magazines. The bank also has the record collection of Frankie Knuckles, who is known as the "godfather of house music." It also stores slides from the collections of the University of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago. The Arts Bank also hosts art shows by other artists.
Using Old Collections in Art
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Gates often uses old collections related to African-American history in his art. This helps him explore ideas about history, memory, and how Black history and culture are valued. For example, his 2017 piece "plantation lullabies" used 4,000 items of "negrobilia." These were old objects like sheet music, signs, and figurines from the Edward Williams Collection.
His project Black Image Corporation used photos from John H. Johnson's photo archive. He focused on Black photographers who were important during the civil rights era. Many of Gates' works use old firehoses, like his Civil Tapestry series. Using firehoses reminds people of how police used them against protesters during the Civil Rights Movement.
University of Chicago Work
From 2011 to 2018, Gates was the first director of Arts + Public Life at the University of Chicago. In this role, he worked with many artists and community members. He is also a full professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the university.
Gates also led the Place Lab. This group worked to find new ways to develop cities. They partnered with cities like Gary, Akron, and Detroit to help them grow.
Other Art Shows and Performances
In 2014, Gates designed a large art project for the 95th Street subway station in Chicago. It was the biggest public art project in the history of the Chicago Transit Authority.
In 2012, he took part in the DOCUMENTA (13) art show in Germany. He restored an old building and held events and concerts there. He also showed his work at the 2010 Whitney Biennial in New York. In 2013, he had a solo show called 13th Ballad at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
In 2014, Gates and jazz pianist Jason Moran performed a show called Looks of a Lot. In 2015, he created an art installation called "Sanctum" at Temple Church, Bristol, England. This project offered 24 days of continuous music and performances.
In 2020, Gates opened a big show called Black Vessel at the Gagosian Gallery in New York City. The show explored themes like family life and manual labor. He used roofing materials in many pieces, honoring his father, who was a roofer. The main part of the show was a gallery lined with black bricks.
His exhibition Future Histories: Theaster Gates and Cauleen Smith was at the SF MOMA from 2020 to 2021. A Clay Sermon was shown at London's Whitechapel Gallery. This show included new film work, ceramic pieces, and old ceramics from other collections.
Future Plans
Gates designed the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion for Serpentine Galleries. He is also part of a team working on The Waterfront Transformation: Canning Dock project in Liverpool, UK. This project will redevelop buildings, including the Dr Martin Luther King Jr building, which will be central to the International Slavery Museum. Gates believes this site is very important for understanding the history of slavery in the UK.
Awards and Honors
Theaster Gates has received many awards for his work:
- 2008 – Artadia Award
- 2012 – Fellow of United States Artists
- 2012 – "Innovator of the Year" by the Wall Street Journal
- 2015 – £40,000 Artes Mundi award in Cardiff, Wales
- 2015 – Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from San Francisco Art Institute
- 2015 – Smithsonian Magazine American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress
- 2017 – Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur from France
- 2018 – Nasher Prize Laureate at the Nasher Sculpture Center
- 2018 – Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development
- 2021 – Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts
- 2023 – Isamu Noguchi Award
Giving Back
Since 2016, Gates has been on the board of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. In 2017, he helped choose the design for the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
In 2018, Gates helped organize an auction with David Adjaye and Bono. This auction raised $10.5 million to support the Global Fund's work against AIDS. Since 2019, he has been co-chairing the fashion group Prada's Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council.
Art in Public Collections
Many of Theaster Gates' works are held in public art collections, meaning people can see them in museums. Some of these include:
- Whyte Painting (KOH0015) (2010), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
- Whyte Painting (NGGRWR 00021) (2010), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
- Civil Tapestry 4 (2011), Tate, London
- Minority Majority (2012), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- Hose for Fire and Other Tragic Encounters (2014), Menil Collection, Houston
- Ground Rules (black line) (2015), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Ground rules. Free throw (2015), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
- Progress (2016), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
- Ship of Zion (2016), Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine
- Black Vessel for a Saint (2017), Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Walker Art Center
- “Do you hear me calling?” (Mama Mamama or What is Black Power) (2018), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
