filter_list Showing 34 results for "Theaster Gates" close Clear
search
dashboard All 78 museum exhibitions 34person people 13article news 10article culture 9trending_up market 6article local 3candle obituary 2gavel restitution 1
date_range Range Today This Week This Month All
Subscribe

Your Summer Guide: 20 Art World Highlights Not to Miss

ARTnews has published a summer guide highlighting 20 art world events and exhibitions not to miss in the coming months. Featured highlights include the opera 'El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego' at the Metropolitan Opera, the 'Costume Art' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Björk show titled 'echolalia' at the National Gallery of Iceland, a book on the Venice Biennale by Massimiliano Gioni, Raven Halfmoon's 'Flags of Our Mothers' at Ballroom Marfa, a Pierre Huyghe exhibition at Fondation Beyeler Basel, a James McNeill Whistler retrospective at Tate Britain, and the inaugural Medina Triennial in New York.

A Work Gifted to David Drake’s Descendants Is the Star of Theaster Gates’s Powerful Gagosian Show

Artist Theaster Gates has gifted a 19th-century vessel by enslaved potter David Drake to Drake's descendants and made this act of restitution the centerpiece of his solo exhibition at Gagosian in New York. The show, titled "Dave: All My Relations," features Gates's own artworks responding to Drake's legacy and the recently transferred pot, highlighting Gates's decades-long engagement with Drake as a foundational figure for his own practice.

Chicago’s Obama Presidential Center has art at its core

The Obama Presidential Center is set to open on Chicago’s South Side on June 19, 2026. The $850m institution, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, features more than 25 site-specific contemporary art commissions integrated into its architecture and 19.3-acre campus. Ahead of the opening, the museum has partnered with Expo Chicago to preview these works, which include monumental contributions from artists such as Julie Mehretu, Mark Bradford, and Nick Cave.

Aspen Art Fair Names More Than 35 Exhibitors for 2026 Edition at Hotel Jerome

The Aspen Art Fair has announced more than 35 exhibitors for its third edition, returning to the Hotel Jerome from July 29 through August 1, 2026. This will be the first edition under director Kelly Cornell, who also leads the Dallas Art Fair. Newcomers include Albertz Benda, Friedman Benda, Library Street Collective, Monique Meloche Gallery, and R & Company, alongside returning galleries such as Marianne Boesky Gallery, Perrotin, Sean Kelly, and Galerie Gmurzynska. The fair will debut an outdoor sculpture garden and continue its Art Prize Program with residencies and commissions through Anderson Ranch Arts Center and Buckhorn Public Arts. It also coincides with the AIR festival organized by the Aspen Art Museum and partners with the Aspen Education Foundation to support local student artists.

tinworks montana matthew barney redoubt

Tinworks Art, the Montana-based nonprofit that revived Agnes Denes's "Wheatfield" land art in Bozeman last year, has acquired the historic Rialto theater in downtown Bozeman. The organization will inaugurate the venue with screenings of Matthew Barney's 2018 film "Redoubt," running from January 31 through February 1, with two showings daily Thursdays through Sundays. The Rialto, built in 1908 as a post office and converted to a theater in 1924, was donated to Tinworks and joins its two-acre complex of former warehouses and agricultural buildings that have hosted exhibitions by artists including Stephen Shore, Lucy Raven, and Theaster Gates.

Art Basel unveils Basel Exclusive and further program highlights for its flagship show in June

Art Basel has announced new program highlights for its flagship fair in Basel this June, including a new initiative called Basel Exclusive. Developed in dialogue with galleries, Basel Exclusive requires participating exhibitors from the main Galleries sector to reserve at least one major work—or an entire presentation—from all pre-fair previews, online viewing rooms, and pre-sales, unveiling them publicly for the first time during the VIP opening on June 16. The fair also revealed the lineup for Unlimited, its platform for large-scale works, which will feature 59 projects by 66 international galleries, curated for the first time by Ruba Katrib of MoMA PS1. Unlimited Night returns on June 18 with extended hours and special performances.

20 Must-See Monographic Museum Exhibitions Feature Artists Allan Rohan Crite, Wifredo Lam, Suzanne Jackson, Woody De Othello, Theaster Gates & More

Fall 2025 brings a wave of major monographic museum exhibitions worldwide, featuring artists such as Allan Rohan Crite, Wifredo Lam, Suzanne Jackson, Woody De Othello, and Theaster Gates. Highlights include the first mainstream museum shows for Crite in his hometown of Boston, the first solo museum exhibition for Gates in Chicago, and the first U.S. retrospective for Lam at MoMA. Other notable shows include surveys of Robert Colescott, Coco Fusco, Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence, and Cauleen Smith, spanning institutions from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.

theaster gates smart museum chicago

The Smart Museum at the University of Chicago has announced plans for a major mid-career survey of artist Theaster Gates, titled “Unto Thee,” opening September 23 and running through February of next year. This marks Gates’s first solo museum exhibition in his hometown of Chicago, despite his international acclaim and numerous institutional shows elsewhere. The exhibition will feature objects Gates has collected and repurposed from the university, including glass lantern slides, vitrines, concrete, and wooden pews, alongside a large-scale installation of African masks accompanied by music from the late DJ Frankie Knuckles.

HOSOO to Present “Glorious Robe,” a Collaborative Exhibition with Theaster Gates

Kyoto-based textile house HOSOO has announced a collaborative exhibition with American artist Theaster Gates titled “Glorious Robe,” scheduled to run from April 11 to August 30, 2026. The showcase centers on the “Dashikimono,” a hybrid garment merging the West African dashiki with the Japanese kimono, alongside ceramic vessels and traditional obi sashes. These works incorporate motifs from the American Civil Rights Movement, including tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, woven directly into the fabric using HOSOO’s centuries-old Nishijin techniques.

Expo Chicago lines up 130 galleries for ‘a more focused’ fair

Expo Chicago, acquired by Frieze in 2023, will return to Navy Pier’s Festival Hall this April with around 130 galleries, a 23% reduction from the 170 exhibitors in recent editions. The fair frames this as a more focused, intentionally scaled format designed to deepen engagement, and it will be the first edition under new director Kate Sierzputowski, who succeeded longtime leader Tony Karman. The fair features a strong contingent of local Chicago dealers, international galleries from South Korea, Lagos, Milan, Dublin, and elsewhere, and partnerships with the Obama Presidential Center and the Galleries Association of Korea.

Artes Mundi 11 Prize and Exhibition

The six artists shortlisted for the 2025 Artes Mundi 11 prize present works addressing displacement, colonial trauma, and migration amid divisive global politics. The exhibition, held at the National Museum Cardiff and other Welsh venues, features Sancintya Mohini Simpson’s subversive Indian miniature-style paintings depicting the horrors of indentured labor, alongside works by Jumana Emil Abboud, Anawana Haloba, and Sawangwongse Yawnghwe. The prize, the UK’s largest cash award for an exhibition at £40,000, continues its evolution by offering solo presentations across multiple venues.

Moffat Takadiwa: Recoded Memories

Moffat Takadiwa, a Zimbabwean artist born in 1983, transforms post-consumer waste like computer keyboards and bottle tops into intricate sculptures and wall works that reflect his Korekore heritage and address consumerism, inequality, post-colonialism, and environmental decay. His recent exhibitions include a solo show "Second Life" at Nicodim Gallery in New York (2025), participation in the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), and shows at mumok Vienna and the Orange County Museum of Art. He is represented by Nicodim Gallery and founded Mbare Art Space, an artist-led hub in Harare's Mbare township.

Yoko Ono, Theaster Gates, Bob Faust and more dominate Chicago’s busy must-see art calendar for fall

The article highlights Yoko Ono's major retrospective "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, running from Oct. 18 to Feb. 22, 2026, as the centerpiece of Chicago's fall art calendar. It also lists ten other notable exhibitions, including Aaron Curry's debut solo show at Corbett vs. Dempsey and "Tengo Lincoln Park en mi corazón: Young Lords in Chicago" at DePaul Art Museum, alongside a preview of "Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade" at the Driehaus Museum.

Art for fall 2025: From the Art Institute to the Architecture Biennial, 10 exhibits for all kinds of realities

A Chicago-based art critic presents a curated guide to 10 exhibitions for fall 2025, ranging from a major traveling survey of activist artist Elizabeth Catlett at the Art Institute of Chicago to a textiles show exploring mourning and survival, a Helen Frankenthaler printmaking exhibit at the Block Museum, and the final programming at the Roman Susan Art Foundation in Rogers Park. Other highlights include a collaborative museum debut by artists Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust inspired by the Japanese design principle shakkei.

The Art Diary April 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens

The April 2026 Art Diary highlights a global trend of exhibitions exploring the intersection of spirituality, art, and the environment. Key highlights include a new scholarly essay by Hassan Vawda reinterpreting the Kettle’s Yard collection through the religious beliefs of its founders, Jim and Helen Ede, and a major group exhibition at ICA LA titled 'Speaking in Tongues.' The latter features indigenous and diasporic artists from the Global South who utilize art as a conduit for the sacred, ritual, and ecstatic expression.

Who Do Chicago’s Art Fairs Serve?

Expo Chicago and its satellite fairs serve as a complex barometer for the Midwestern arts ecosystem, highlighting both the successes of local representation and the tensions of institutional growth. While galleries like Andrew Rafacz and Corbett vs. Dempsey demonstrate viable career paths for Chicago-based artists like Melissa Leandro and Gabrielle Garland, the fair's shifting structure reveals a narrowing field for smaller nonprofits.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Announces Historic Expansion Opening

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has announced a historic expansion, increasing its size by 50 percent to 114,000 square feet, with a grand opening scheduled for June 6 and 7, 2026. The expansion, designed by Safdie Architects, includes fully reimagined galleries and is celebrated by two landmark gifts: 18 major works by women artists donated by chairperson Olivia Walton and her husband Tom Walton, and 200 artworks by over 100 artists donated by collectors Candace and Michael Humphreys. The Walton gift features artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Alice Neel, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, while the Humphreys gift introduces many new artists to the museum's holdings.

Crystal Bridges Museum's expansion will open in June 2026

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, announced its expansion will open on June 6, 2026, adding 114,000 square feet—a 50% increase in size. Designed by Safdie Architects, the project began in 2022 and includes hundreds of newly donated works, the largest gift in the museum's history: over 200 pieces from Dallas-based collectors Candace and Michael Humphreys. Additional donations from board chair Olivia Walton and her husband Tom include 18 works by women artists, honoring her late mother, gallerist Monique Knowlton.

Theaster Gates’ Smart Museum Show Marks a Historic Moment for His Hometown Legacy

Theaster Gates is presenting a major exhibition at the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago, marking a historic moment for the artist’s legacy in his hometown. The show brings together his multidisciplinary practice spanning sculpture, installation, performance, and urban intervention, reflecting his deep engagement with Chicago’s South Side communities and histories of race, labor, and urban renewal.

moca gala art performance party

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) held its annual gala, presented by BVLGARI, at the Geffen Contemporary space in Little Tokyo. The evening introduced a new format called MOCA Legends, honoring artist Theaster Gates, architect Frank Gehry, and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt. Guests included actors Jane Fonda, David Alan Grier, Sarah Paulson, director Ava DuVernay, and artists Andrea Bowers, Charles Gaines, Henry Taylor, and Olafur Eliasson, whose exhibition OPEN was on view. After a performance by the TAIKOPROJECT Japanese drum ensemble, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi surprised attendees by introducing Gehry. Rapper Tierra Whack performed during dinner, and the event raised $3.1 million for museum operations.

theaster gates tapped for obama presidential center installation celebrating ebony and jet image archives

The Obama Foundation has commissioned artist Theaster Gates to create an expansive frieze for the Pendleton Atrium of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC), set to open on Chicago’s South Side in 2026. The installation will draw from the Johnson Publishing Company image archive and the Howard Simmons photographic collections, celebrating the visual archives of Ebony and Jet magazines. Gates, who founded the Rebuild Foundation in 2009, will join nine other artists—including Kiki Smith, Nick Cave, Marie Watt, Jenny Holzer, and Idris Khan—whose works were announced in September for the OPC campus.

collectors igor and mojca lah open contemporary art museum slovenian mountains

Collectors and philanthropists Igor and Mojca Lah are opening a new contemporary art museum called Muzej Lah in Bled, Slovenia, set to debut next year. Designed by David Chipperfield Architects, the 55,000-square-foot museum will be built into a hillside beneath Bled Castle and will house the Fundacija Lah art collection of around 800 works, including pieces by Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, William Kentridge, Anne Imhof, and Theaster Gates, many never before publicly displayed.

Lenz Geerk’s Theatre of the Mind: painting as regulation of appearance

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin presents "Theatre of the Mind," the first Italian institutional solo exhibition by German-born painter Lenz Geerk. The show features recent works from 2022 to 2024, exploring painting as a perceptual device where figures, objects, and domestic interiors exist in unstable, unresolved configurations. Installation views by Giorgio Perrottino accompany the exhibition, which runs at the foundation's space.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces the Opening of the Condé M. Nast Galleries, Designed by Peterson Rich Office

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the opening of the Condé M. Nast Galleries, a 12,000-square-foot exhibition space designed by the New York-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The galleries, located adjacent to the museum's Great Hall, will be inaugurated in May 2026 by The Costume Institute's spring exhibition titled "Costume Art," which explores the dressed body by juxtaposing garments from the Institute's holdings with treasures from the museum's broader collections. The project is part of a larger renovation that also includes a redesign of the Fifth Avenue and 83rd Street entrance to improve visitor flow.

Theaster Gates: Contending with the Past and Present

Theaster Gates has transformed the Smart Museum of Art into a personal sanctuary for his first major solo institutional exhibition in Chicago, titled "Unto Thee." The immersive installation features vast archives from Gates's personal collections, including African artifacts, funerary objects, and a significant vinyl record collection that provides a continuous sonic backdrop to the space. Key works on display include the monumental "Black Still Life #3" and the ongoing series "Walking Prayer," which consists of black books embossed with golden phrases that explore the complexities of Black identity and collective memory.

The most exciting museum openings in 2026

A trio of major museum openings is expected in Los Angeles in 2026: the expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) with its new David Geffen Galleries designed by Peter Zumthor opening in April; the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by filmmaker George Lucas and designed by Ma Yansong, opening on 22 September; and the digital artist Refik Anadol's Dataland, the first museum devoted to AI-generated art, opening in spring. Additionally, the Victoria and Albert Museum opens V&A East in London on 18 April, and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, opens an expansion on 6 June.

Theaster Gates redeems discarded materials in Smart Museum’s ‘Unto Thee’

Theaster Gates's first solo exhibition in his hometown of Chicago, 'Unto Thee,' opens at the Smart Museum of Art, featuring materials collected over his career that are tied to the University of Chicago. The show includes slate from Rockefeller Chapel, glass lantern slides from the art history department, and the 4,500-volume archive of a late colleague, all transformed into sculptural installations that explore the changing meaning of objects.

Fast-rising Montana art organisation to take over century-old theatre

Tinworks Art, a non-profit contemporary art space in Bozeman, Montana, is expanding from its original industrial campus to the historic Rialto Theater downtown. Opening November 21, Tinworks at Rialto will debut with Matthew Barney's 2018 film *Redoubt*, on view until February 1, 2026, marking the organization's first year-round venue for installations, talks, screenings, and performances. The Rialto, which opened as a theater in 1924, was donated to Tinworks by its previous owners. Additionally, Tinworks is restoring its deteriorating mill building on the northeast campus, set to open in October 2026, which will add flexible gallery spaces, a visitor center, and offices, extending programming beyond its current June-to-October schedule.

13 Art Exhibitions You Don’t Want To Miss This Fall

This fall, galleries and museums across the United States are presenting a series of exhibitions centered on Black life, ranging from historic pioneers to contemporary voices. Highlights include Athi-Patra Ruga's immersive installation 'Lord, I gotta keep on (movin')' at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, which imagines a queer Black nation called Azania; 'Edmonia Lewis: Indelible Impressions' at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center, showcasing the 19th-century sculptor's Neoclassical works; and 'Data Consciousness: Reframing Blackness in Contemporary Print' in New York, inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois's data visualizations. Other notable shows include 'A Taste of Beauty' at the Crocker Art Museum, featuring carved African spoons, and the reopening of the Studio Museum in Harlem, alongside the global energy of Art Basel Miami Beach.

Can’t-Miss Chicago Art Moments: Fall 2025

The article previews three major art exhibitions in Chicago for fall 2025. Theaster Gates will present his first solo museum exhibition in his hometown at the Smart Museum of Art, featuring new installations derived from his collections of glass lantern slides, display vitrines, and the Johnson Publishing archive. Diane Simpson, at age ninety, makes her Art Institute of Chicago debut with an installation of three new works on the Bluhm Family Terrace, based on drawings from the mid-1980s. A comprehensive survey of Scott Burton, who died in 1989, opens at Wrightwood 659, showcasing nearly forty sculptures, photographs, ephemera, and the only known video of his performance work.