The four projects referenced or included here by Theaster Gates are, a video installation in Ottawa, a sculptural installation work in Washington, a curatorial project in Milan, and an exterior sculpture piece in Minneapolis. These are shown in the order found over the last two years, where the artist became an unanticipated but recurring theme.
The high definition video installation Billy Sings Amazing Grace at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa was part of a 2016 exhibition and lecture series entitled Contemporary Conversations. The series was in partnership with the US Embassy and also included artists Kiki Smith and Anne Chu. While the video Billy Sings Amazing Grace can be found on-line, viewing it there cannot compare to the visceral experience of seeing the large scale piece in a black box gallery with great sound.
The two images directly below are from an installation by Mr. Gates at the National Gallery in DC. The project includes a small bookshelf tower of bound Ebony magazines. The piece was featured in a naturally lit room within I.M. Pei’s magnificent national gallery addition that was completed in 1978. The gallery’s main atrium includes a Calder mobile.
The following four photos were taken at an exhibition at the Osservatorio, the Prada Foundation’s satellite gallery in Milan. It is located at roof level within the popular Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The exhibition curated by Gates, is titled The Black Image Corporation and relates to Ebony magazine’s role in defining ‘the aesthetic-cultural codes of African-American identity’. The carpet and couch in the image below are from the magazine’s downtown Chicago offices. The three photos that follow the images from the exhibition space are from the Galleria’s main floor. All can be viewed at a larger scale by clicking or double clicking on them.
The final four images below were taken in November 2018 at the Sculpture Garden at the well curated Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The Walker was designed by OMA. The sculpture garden has recently undergone a major redevelopment. Theaster Gates piece here is entitled Black Vessel for a Saint. The work includes a stone statue of St Laurence that was reclaimed from a south-side Chicago church demolition in 2014. Gates used the statue in a number projects including installations at the 2015 Venice Biennale, and at the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria. The installation in Minneapolis is considered permanent.
