Theaster Gates Studio

For the past decade, Theaster Gates – whose practice comprises installation, performance, and engagement strategies – has realised Black Artist Retreat (B.A.R), an ongoing project of convening artists in Chicago. Since 2013, Gates has invited artists from all over the world to reflect together on their making practices, explore challenges in the industry, and advance mentorship and knowledge sharing.
In The Laboratory of the Future, Gates debuts his documentary film Black Artist Retreat: Reflections on 10 Years of Convening (2023). By sharing this film Gates demonstrates the complexities of the very notion of Black space, and the ways in which temporal Black spaces can be built to advance the cause of the arts and convene artists of colour in a self-determined manner. The unique ability of artists to take the tenets of the retreat back to their studios and communities results in the creation of new social architectures.

Technical collaborators
Parallax Post, The Vinyl Factory, Chris Strong
Team
Sabina Bokhari, Emma German, Tura Cousins Wilson
With the additional support of
Ford Foundation, Terra Foundation, Rebuild Foundation, The Lunder, Institute for American Art at Colby College, University of Chicago, Park Avenue Armory