Extended through September 11, 2021
About
Gagosian is pleased to present Social Works, a group exhibition curated by Antwaun Sargent with participating artists David Adjaye, Zalika Azim, Allana Clarke, Kenturah Davis, Theaster Gates, Linda Goode Bryant, Lauren Halsey, Titus Kaphar, Rick Lowe, Christie Neptune, Alexandria Smith, and Carrie Mae Weems.
Social Works considers the relationship between space—personal, public, institutional, and psychic—and Black social practice. With a wide range of material and theoretical approaches, the work on view is united by a conscious engagement with today’s cultural moment, in which numerous social factors have converged to produce a heightened urgency for Black artists to utilize space as a community-building tool and a means of empowerment.
Known for his masterful use of light, shadow, and space, as well as his integration of diverse forms, David Adjaye approaches architecture as a way to promote inclusive accessibility and to reflect upon the human legacies embedded in the built past. Asaase (2021), his first large-scale autonomous sculpture, is a maze of nested earthen walls that climb to a conical vertex, referencing historic works of West African architecture such as the Tiébélé royal complex in Burkina Faso and the walled city of Agadez in Niger.
Theaster Gates’s installation is dedicated to the legendary DJ Frankie Knuckles, the “Godfather of House Music” whose pioneering sounds shaped the Black- and queer-led 1980s house music scene. A collaboration with the Rebuild Foundation—Gates’s Chicago-based nonprofit organization focused on art, cultural development, and neighborhood transformation—the work features a special display of over five thousand records from Knuckles’s personal archive, many of which will be digitized as they play in the gallery.
#SocialWorks
Artists
David Adjaye
Zalika Azim
Allana Clarke
Kenturah Davis
Theaster Gates
Linda Goode Bryant
Lauren Halsey
Titus Kaphar
Rick Lowe
Christie Neptune
Alexandria Smith
Carrie Mae Weems
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Social Works II: Manuel Mathieu | The Delusion of Power
Artist Manuel Mathieu reflects on Haiti, Francisco Goya, and conceptualizations of power, examining their roles in his practice.
Social Works: The Archives of Frankie Knuckles Organized by Theaster Gates
Theaster Gates, steward of the Frankie Knuckles record collection, is engaging with the late DJ and musician’s archive of records, ephemera, and personal effects. For the Quarterly’s “Social Works” supplement, guest edited by Antwaun Sargent, Gates presents a selection of Knuckles’s personal record collection. Chantala Kommanivanh, a Chicago-based artist, educator, and musician—and the records manager for Rebuild Foundation, Chicago—provides annotations, contextualizing these records’ importance and unique qualities. Ron Trent, a dear friend of Knuckles’s, speaks to the legacy evinced by these materials.
Social Works: Rick Lowe and Walter Hood
Rick Lowe and Walter Hood speak about Black space, the built environment, and history as a footing for moving forward as part of “Social Works,” a supplement guest edited by Antwaun Sargent for the Summer 2021 issue of the Quarterly.
Notes on Social Works
Antwaun Sargent presents a collection of thoughts and images, gathered from conversations with artists, curators, architects, and educators, as well as essays, social media, and the news, that inform the exhibition Social Works. The essay serves as an introduction to the corresponding supplement guest edited by Sargent for the Summer 2021 issue of the Quarterly.
Social Works: Sir David Adjaye OBE
David Adjaye speaks with Antwaun Sargent about Asaase, a new sculpture included in the exhibition Social Works.
Social Works: Lauren Halsey and Mabel O. Wilson
Lauren Halsey and Mabel O. Wilson discuss Black space and community in the context of architecture, building, and gentrification, as part of “Social Works,” a supplement guest edited by Antwaun Sargent for the Summer 2021 issue of the Quarterly.
News
In Conversation
Antwaun Sargent
Paul D. Miller
Friday, August 6, 2021, 1pm EDT
Antwaun Sargent will speak with Paul D. Miller, editor-at-large of the Brooklyn Rail, about Social Works, an exhibition curated by Sargent currently on view at Gagosian, West 24th Street, New York. Social Works considers the relationship between space—personal, public, institutional, and psychic—and Black social practice. The conversation will end with a poetry reading. To join the online event, register at brooklynrail.org.
Installation view, Social Works: Curated by Antwaun Sargent, Gagosian, 555 West 24th Street, New York, June 24–September 11, 2021. Artwork, left to right: © Zalika Azim, © Allana Clarke, © Linda Goode Bryant, © Rick Lowe Studio. Photo: Rob McKeever
In Conversation
David Adjaye and Rick Lowe
Moderated by Thelma Golden
Wednesday, June 23, 2021, 2pm edt
Join Gagosian for a conversation between Sir David Adjaye and Rick Lowe, moderated by Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, on the occasion of Social Works at Gagosian, New York. Livestreaming from the exhibition in Chelsea in advance of the opening on June 24, the trio will explore Adjaye and Lowe’s shared interests in architecture, community building, and the relationship between space and the Black body. Featuring work by twelve artists, the exhibition includes Asaase (2021), Adjaye’s first large-scale autonomous sculpture, and Black Wall Street Journey (2020–), a new series of paintings by Lowe memorializing the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma. To join the online event, register at eventbrite.com.
Left: David Adjaye. Photo: Alex Fradkin, courtesy Adjaye Associates. Middle: Thelma Golden. Photo: Julie Skarratt. Right: Rick Lowe. Photo: Brent Reaney