THEASTER GATES / Black Chapel

Theaster Gates
Black Chapel, 2024
Paperback, 240 pages 
20 x 27 cm
Wolther König, Köln

A photographic diary of the artist’s awe-inspiring Serpentine Pavilion commission

This volume encompasses the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion Commission Black Chapel by American Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates (born 1973). Richly illustrated and arranged by acclaimed designer Joseph Logan, this book documents the pavilion’s existence through the summer season, inhabited by live events from experimental music to spiritual workshops. Photographs of this “space of deep reflection” highlight Gates’ seven tar paintings produced for the installation, as well as the bronze bell sourced from a Chicago Catholic church placed outside to mark performances. Supplementing the images is new writing from architects, artists and musicians reflecting on Gates’ pavilion. Inspirations compiled by the artist of places, buildings, objects and rituals, alongside documentation of his own past projects, add insight into the installation’s design process.