ART | TALENT
ABOUT
Theaster Gates is reshaping the relationship between art, community, and the built world. Through sculpture, performance, and architectural intervention, he explores themes relating to race, urban renewal, social justice, and the intersection of culture and place. Drawing from a background in urban planning, Gates uses materials and spaces as tools for social change. His practice challenges dominant narratives and recirculates cultural and economic capital to transform communities marginalized by systems of inequality.
In 2010, he founded the Rebuild Foundation, an ambitious and multi-faceted project aimed at revitalising underserved areas of Chicago’s South Side through cultural and community-led programs. Rebuild projects such as the Stony Island Arts Bank—a former bank repurposed as a cultural centre, archive, and gallery—illustrate how such locations can platform the arts, amplify marginalised voices, and create a shared sense of space. Across all scales, from intimate objects to large-scale interventions, Gates’ work demonstrates how art can catalyse change—transforming spaces and the communities who inhabit them.
Talent: Theaster Gates
Photographer: Joe Perri @ Faster Faster
