, one of the largest international art festivals in the country. The installation featured work inspired by artist Agnes Martin and scholar-activist W.E.B. DuBois.
“Through this work, he continues to refuse traditional binaries of black and white and instead leans into the truth of his story, and his ongoing dialogue with Japanese philosophy and creative craft,” the Nasher said in a press release.will feature Gates’ work across multiple disciplines. It will include a communal table and bar created by Gates and his team from salvaged wood in Chicago and a DJ booth with selections from Gates’ own soul and R&B collection.
“The term Afro Mingei, coined by Gates, connects the word for the iconic Black hairstyle that served as a symbol of Black identity and empowerment in the 1960s and 1970s and the Japanese term mingei that was conceived by philosopher Soetsu Yanagi and ceramists Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai to describe and honor the realm of humble objects of daily use made by unknown craftspeople,” according to the Nasher.
Gates — for whom the term “Renaissance man” is an understatement — is no stranger to innovative ventures. The social practice artist, who also teaches at the University of Chicago, focuses on land development and the transformation of spaces to explore Blackness and Black spaces through international performances, sculptures and exhibitions.