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Theaster Gates Artist’s TalkPost an Event »

California College of the Arts (SF)

September 27 - September 27, 2011

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1111 Eighth Street San Francisco, CA 94107
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Theaster Gates Artist’s Talk Theaster Gates, Bath, from 12 Ballads For Huguenot House, 2011
CCA Design and Craft Lecture Series Theaster Gates is an artist, musician, cultural planner and urbanist. His performances, installations, and urban interventions have included assembling gospel choirs, forming temporary unions, and using systems of mass production as a way of underscoring industry’s need for the body. He is committed to the restoration of poor black neighborhoods by converting abandoned buildings into cultural spaces that not only allow new cultural moments to happen in unexpected places, but also raise expectations about where "place-making" happens and why. At the 2010 Whitney Biennale, Theaster Gates transformed the museum court into a sculptural installation that functions as a communal gathering space for performances, social engagement, and contemplation. The spare architecture of the main pavilion reflects the artist’s interest in Eastern philosophy and art. The other throne-like structures suggest shoe shine chairs. These architectural elements infuse mundane labor with dignity and elevate the status of simple and found materials. The wood that makes up the main pavilion and surrounding pathways was salvaged from the former Wrigley gum factory in inner-city Chicago and cleaned by Gates before it was repurposed for his public installation. Gates collaborates with historians, artists, and street musicians on a series of “monastic residencies.” These creative residents transformed and reinvented the court by adding what Gates describes as “commentary, bling, and acts of sincerity.” A 2010 Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gates has received awards from the Joyce Foundation and the Graham Foundation. In 2010 he also performed and exhibited at the Whitney Biennial and the Armory Show in New York, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Bruno David Gallery and the Pulitzer Museum of Art in Saint Louis, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Gates is currently part of Marc Bamuthi Joseph's newest project, an upcoming performance at YBCA. Timken Lecture Hall, SF Campus 1111 Eighth St, San Francisco, 94107 CCA Event: http://www.cca.edu/calendar/2011/lecture-theaster-gates Video Interview: http://theastergates.com/artwork/1475813_To_Speculate_Darkly.html
Theaster Gates Artist’s Talk Theaster Gates, Forest for Tea, Installation, 2007