The Serpentine Pavilion in London has unveiled Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates's design for the 21st annual summer pavilion, entitled Black Chapel, which will open to the public June 10. Working with the architectural firm Adjaye Associates, with financial support from Goldman Sachs, Gates has designed a sanctuary-like space with a chapel bell and an oculus as the sole light source. The circular wood structure will be a space for performance and meditation, as found in small chapels, and carries on the artist’s tradition of urban and architectural intervention, as seen in Stony Island Arts Bank and Black Cinema House in his hometown of Chicago.
From repurposing derelict banks as community arts centers to engaging with sculpture, performance art, and object making, Gates draws on training in both urban planning and preservation to investigate themes of collective desire, land development, Black space making, and transformation. He founded his arts and culture non-profit, the Rebuild Foundation, on Chicago’s South Side in 2010 to encourage community development, through free programs and a series of neighborhood renovations called Dorchester Projects. A professor at the University of Chicago, he has received numerous awards including the 2021 Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts, the 2020 Crystal Award, and the Nasher Prize for Sculpture in 2018. In addition to exhibiting at museums and galleries from Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center to Milan’s Fondazione Prada, Gates also worked on the 2019Chicago Architecture Biennial, with its then-curator Yesomi Umolu, who is now director of curatorial affairs at the Serpentine.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.