Exhibition
Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America
02/17/21-06/06/21
Conversations · Exhibition-Related
Theaster Gates in Conversation with Massimiliano Gioni
Cover Image:
Theaster Gates, Gone Are the Days of Shelter and Martyr, 2014. Video, sound, color; 6:31 minutes. © Theaster Gates. Courtesy White Cube and Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Join us for a conversation with artist Theaster Gates in dialogue with Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director of the New Museum.
This is the first program in a series of artist conversations highlighting the practices of artists participating in the New Museum exhibition “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America.”
Theaster Gates lives and works in Chicago. Gates creates works that engage with space theory and land development, sculpture and performance. Drawing on his interest and training in urban planning and preservation, Gates redeems spaces that have been left behind. Known for his recirculation of art-world capital, Gates creates work that focuses on the possibility of the “life within things.” His work contends with the notion of Black space as a formal exercise: one defined by collective desire, artistic agency, and the tactics of a pragmatist.
In 2010, Gates created the Rebuild Foundation, a nonprofit platform for art, cultural development, and neighborhood transformation that supports artists and strengthens communities through free arts programming and innovative cultural amenities on Chicago’s South Side.
Gates has exhibited and performed at Tate Liverpool, UK (2020); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2020); Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis (2019); Palais de Tokyo Paris, France (2019); Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany (2018); Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland (2018); National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA (2017); Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada (2016); Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2016); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2013); Punta della Dogana, Venice, Italy (2013) and dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012). He was the winner of the Artes Mundi 6 prize and a recipient of the Légion d’Honneur in 2017. In 2018, he was awarded the Nasher Prize for Sculpture, and the Urban Land Institute, J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. Gates received the 2020 Crystal Award for his leadership in creating sustainable communities.
Gates is a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Visual Arts and the Harris School of Public Policy, and is Distinguished Visiting Artist and Director of Artist Initiatives at the Lunder Institute for American Art at Colby College.
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Sponsors
Lead support for “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America” is provided by the Ford Foundation.
Major support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Agnes Gund.
New Museum Digital Initiatives are generously supported by Hermine and David B. Heller.
Generous ongoing support is provided by the Charlotte and Bill Ford Artist Talks Fund.
Support for Education and Public Engagement programs is provided, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Endowment support is provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; the Skadden, Arps Education Programs Fund; and the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs at the New Museum.
Support of artist participation is provided by Laura Skoler.
Additional support for education and community programs is provided by the American Chai Trust.
A full list of support for “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America” can be viewed here.
