Title: Theaster Gates: Afro-Mingei
Author: Tokuyama Hirokazu, Coco Fusco, Chelsea Foxwell
Language: Jappanese/English
Publisher: torch press
Theaster Gates (born 1973 in Chicago) is based in the South Side district of Chicago, USA, and works across media and genres such as architecture, music, performance, fashion, and design, with a focus on sculpture and ceramics. Our activities have been highly acclaimed internationally. His first solo exhibition in Japan, ``Theaster Gates: Afro Folk Crafts'' (Mori Art Museum), explores the appeal of black art, which continues to attract attention around the world, through Gates' multifaceted practice. At the same time, it will be an opportunity to experience the significance of contemporary art, which celebrates handiwork, questions race and politics, and expresses a new fusion of cultures.
Educated in sculpture and urban planning, Gates first came to Japan in 2004 to study ceramics in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, and has been influenced by Japanese culture, including ceramics, for over 20 years. I did. His memorable encounters and discoveries in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as his experiences living as an African American with roots in Mississippi and Chicago, form the basis of his creations. Gates, who has explored cultural hybridity as an artist, is inspired by the slogan ``Black is Beautiful,'' which played a part in the American civil rights movement (1954-1968) and the Japanese ``Mingei movement.'' He coined the term "Afro Mingei" to describe his unique aesthetics, which are fused with philosophy. This exhibition, which is Gates' first in Japan and the largest solo exhibition in Asia, is comprised of the following sections: ``Sacred Spaces,'' ``Black Libraries & Black Spaces,'' ``Blackness,'' ``Chronology,'' and ``Afro Folk Crafts.'' , we will be introducing not only his representative works to date, but also works closely related to Japanese culture, including new works created specifically for this exhibition.
In addition to fully introducing the installation view, the exhibition catalog also covers the history of Tokoname, the history of folk crafts, the history of a fictional potter named Shoji Yamaguchi, the history of black Americans, and the personal history of Gates. The content is rich in content that allows you to fully understand the concept of "Afro Folk Crafts", including a chronology that introduces Afro Folk Crafts on a single timeline, and an architectural project by Gates. It also includes three essays and an interview with Gates, deepening your understanding of Gates' unique and multifaceted activities.
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Theaster Gates
Born in 1973 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, lives there. He studied urban design, ceramics, religious studies, and visual arts at Iowa State University and the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He skillfully expresses the complexity of Blackness using visual art theories such as the material earth, objectivity, space and materiality. In 2004, he participated in the "Tokoname International Ceramics Homestay" (IWCAT) in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, and for the past 20 years has had a strong respect and interest in the cultural value and tradition of ceramics in Tokoname City. and have built relationships with local people. His major solo exhibitions in recent years include the New Museum (New York, 2022-2023), Serpentine Pavilion (London, 2022), and Fondazione Prada (Milan, 2018). In Japan, they exhibited at the international art festival ``Aichi 2022,'' and in 2019, they were selected as a recipient of the Obayashi Foundation's ``Urban Vision'' grant and conducted a research project in Japan.