The Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation is delighted to announce that the US-American artist Theaster Gates has been awarded the Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts, one of the most highly endowed international prizes in this area.
Image: Sara Pooley. Courtesy Theaster Gates.
Born in Chicago in 1973, Theaster Gates is one of the most original artists of our time. Among many other disciplines, Theaster Gates is a trained sculptor, ceramicist, and social innovator. His work addresses aspects of the spatial design, restoration, and reactivation of vacant space with a focus on community enrichment through ambitious cultural initiatives and the preservation of Black culture in America. He employs a range of artistic methods, in particular sculpture and painting, as well as spatial interventions, film, and music. His cultural projects, which focus on the long term, are united by an aspiration to create world-class programs and amenities in Black neighborhoods. Theaster Gates became well-known as a result of the Rebuild Foundation in Chicago, Gates’ non-profit organization on the city’s South Side that transforms abandoned land and buildings into cultural amenities and artistic space for the community. Since then, his work has been exhibited in important international museums and exhibitions including, but not limited to, documenta 13 in Kassel and Haus der Kunst, Munich (D), National Gallery of Art, Washington DC and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (USA), the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (F), the Kunstmuseum Basel (CH), the Fondazione Prada, Milan (IT) and the Kunsthaus Bregenz (AT).
First Statement of Theaster Gates:
“Spatial platforms that highlight the contributions of Black artists and designers have been long overlooked. Projects that consider people as much as they consider the implications of the built form deserve merit. I’m so grateful to be part of this precedent and honored that the selection committee would acknowledge my practice as part of the amazing work by luminaries who have received this award in the past. I’m thankful to all who have supported my practice both within museums and on the street.”
Please find more quotes, the jury statement and a biography of Theaster Gates at our press service:
https://www.kiesler.
Contact:
Susanne Haider
art:phalanx – Culture & Urbanity, Vienna
Tel. +43 (0) 1 524 98 03-11 / +43 (0)6991 205 1700
Mail:
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