First American Winner of Nasher Prize, Theaster Gates, Makes a Case for Art as Urban Renewal

The first time I encountered the work of 2018 Nasher Prize Laureate Theaster Gates was while waiting in line for the 2010 Whitney Biennial. Standing outside in the chilly New York air, I could hear a low rhythmic sound emanating from a wooden, box-like structure in the courtyard below.The piece was Cosmology of Yard, a low-slung pavilion built out of wood salvaged from the Wrigley gum factory in Chicago, inside of which a video played on a loop. The work, part of his divine “Temple Exercises” series, elevated the simple act of shoe shining, turning it into a meditation on power structures, migration and community building, and the art of making.And making things — rehabbing things, transforming things, collecting things — is what the Chicago-based artist and urban planner does. Announced as the Nasher Prize winner last September, Gates will address his multi-disciplinary artistic practice in a town hall-style meeting at the Wyly Theater on April 6, and attend a black-tie gala in his honor at the Nasher Sculpture Center on April 7.  Continue reading...