Theaster Gates (b. 1973, Chicago, Illinois; lives and works in Chicago, Illinois) 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’s practice 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.
His work has been the focus of solo exhibitions at the Smart Museum of Art and Stony Island Arts Bank, Chicago, Illinois; Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Texas; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; New Museum, New York, New York; Whitechapel Gallery, London, England; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California among others.
Gates has received numerous awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2025), Crystal Award (2020), Nasher Prize (2018), Kurt Schwitters Prize (2017), American Academy of Arts & Sciences Award (2016), and the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress (2015). His work can be found in public collections worldwide, including the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ontario; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Illinois; Tate Gallery, London, England; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California. Gates is a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Visual Arts and the Harris School of Public Policy.
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