The Collection

Theaster Gates is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, installation, performance, music, and urban intervention. Trained in urban planning and Japanese ceramics, his work draws from conceptual formalism, land art, and spiritual traditions, guided by what he calls the “spirit within things.” At the core of his practice is the transformation of culturally significant Black archives, objects, and spaces, extending the life of histories and catalyzing new futures.

In 2010 Gates founded the Rebuild Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to neighborhood regeneration and cultural development on Chicago’s South Side. His studio practice includes the Civil Tapestry series, made from salvaged fire hoses referencing Civil Rights history; tar paintings honoring his father’s work as a roofer; and bronze wall reliefs monumentalizing Chicago rooftops. He has also launched projects such as Black Madonna Press and Black Image Corporation, activating archives like those of Johnson Publishing, which produced Ebony and Jet.

Gates has exhibited at Tate Modern, the Serpentine Pavilion, Victoria and Albert Museum, Haus der Kunst, Kunstmuseum Basel, Palais de Tokyo, Walker Art Center, the National Gallery of Art, and the New Museum, among others. His works are held in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Fondazione Prada, the Menil Collection, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

His many honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship (2025), Isamu Noguchi Award (2023), Frederick Kiesler Prize (2022), the World Economic Forum Crystal Award (2020), and the Nasher Sculpture Prize (2018). Gates is Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago and Director of Artist Initiatives at the Lunder Institute for American Art at Colby College. He also leads the experimental music ensemble Black Monks.