Theaster Gates Exhibits New Tar Paintings in Hong Kong While Balancing Global Projects

Theaster Gates will present his exhibition 'Tarry Skies and Psalms for Now' at White Cube in Hong Kong from March 21 to May 20, 2017. This show follows his 2013 Hong Kong debut 'My Back, My Wheel, My Will' and demonstrates the evolution of his roofing paintings, which incorporate tar and industrial materials. Gates connects these works to his father's roofing career, describing their origins as sentimental while noting their formal dialogue with artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Agnes Martin. Concurrently, his exhibition 'The Minor Arts' runs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC through September 4, 2017. Gates's practice spans painting, sculpture, ceramics, installation, performance, and urban regeneration, often funded by art sales that support his nonprofit Rebuild Foundation's community projects on Chicago's South Side. He highlights the economic shift for roofers who now earn more creating art, repurposing their skills into conceptual works. Gates recently traveled to Basel, Paris, and Nairobi, where he consulted on a retreat for black artists. He views his work as exposing artworld divisions between economic and conceptual value, as seen when he split the £40,000 Artes Mundi Prize winnings in 2015. In Hong Kong, he is intrigued by mainland China's rapid private museum development and aims to foster new dialogues. When asked about the U.S. president's impact, Gates remarked that it motivates him to work harder for Chicago's South Side.