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“By concentrating on the creative practice first – that is, the successful restoration of an abandoned building – and then it’s occupancy with stuff, I would hope that a by–product of that work is that both people close to me, and far from me might be curious about it.” —Theaster Gates
In 2012, the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago mounted the group exhibition Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art, examining the decades-long tradition of artists “sharing food and drink to advance aesthetic goals and to foster critical engagement with the culture of their moment,” in the first survey of its kind. One of the artist–hosts was Chicago’s own Theaster Gates, who hosted a meal at one of the houses of the Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative – one of the many projects under the umbrella of Gates’ Rebuild Foundation, based on Chicago’s South Side. For this video from the Smart, Gates shows us around the project, and discusses how creating a community space and filling it with life can be a part of artistic discourse.
