Force of Nature

Theaster Gates Photo: Sara Pooley Courtesy White Cube

Theaster Gates is a phenomenon — one of the world’s most influential artists, he features at number 56 on Art Review’s list of the most powerful people in art. Gates is also a plain-speaking social commentator and activist. Some of his most powerful work is on display this fall at simultaneous shows held at White Cube’s galleries in Hong Kong and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The shows are dominated by ‘salvaged materials’ — found objects, including junk, in layman’s terms— and speak of homelessness, forced migration, and religious and political persecution.

Gates comes from Chicago’s notorious South Side, where he still lives and works. His voice voice is a clear and powerful call connecting art, urban chaos and decay (he trained as an urban planner) and social issues that interweave the world. They are impossible to understand unless seen up close and personal — as anyone who saw his powerful ‘12 Ballads for Huguenot House’, created for last year’s dOCUMENTA (13) fair in Germany, can testify. Now you have a very good excuse for that visit to Hong Kong or Brazil.

: Raising Goliath 2012 Dimensions variable 1967 Ford fire truck, magazines, tar bucket, mop, steel and wire Photo: Ben Westoby

: ‘Salvaged Materials’ Gates’ most recent works will be on display at White Cube’s galleries in Hong Kong and Sao Paulo, Brazil this fall Theaster Gates Photo: Sara Pooley © Theaster Gates Courtesy White Cube

: 12 Ballads For Huguenot House Gates’ project in Kassel, Germany for dOCUMENTA (13) © Theaster Gates Photo: World Red Eye. Courtesy Locust Projects, Miami

: 12 Ballads For Huguenot House Gates’ project in Kassel, Germany for dOCUMENTA (13) © Theaster Gates Photo: Nils Klinger Courtesy White Cube

: ‘Salvaged Materials’ Gates’ most recent works will be on display at White Cube’s galleries in Hong Kong and Sao Paulo, Brazil this fall Theaster Gates Photo: Sara Pooley © Theaster Gates Courtesy White Cube