Summer Screenings

Black Artist Retreat: Reflections on 10 Years of Convening, 2023, 1 hour 23 min, VO

First premiered at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2023, this film chronicles a decade of Theaster Gates’ celebrated Black Artist Retreat (B.A.R), an ongoing project of convening artists in Chicago. Since 2013, Gates has invited artists from all over the world to reflect together on their making practices, explore challenges in the industry, and advance mentorship and knowledge sharing. The documentary Black Artist Retreat: Reflections on 10 years of Convening (2023) acts as a document of witness to the gatherings that Gates has hosted almost annually over the past decade for Black artists, considering the architecture of convening, and demonstrating the creation of space through joy and inhabitance.

Billy Sings Amazing Grace, 2013, 12 min 24 sec, VO

In Billy Sings Amazing Grace, Gates collaborates with soul singer Billy Forston and presents a performance where they both sing "Amazing Grace," sharing a poignant rendition of the classic within a dimly lit auditorium. Produced in 2013, this film underscores Gates' profound connection to the emotional and spiritual resonance of music, a theme that permeates his diverse body of work encompassing ceramics, urban planning, and archiving.

Gone Are The Days of Shelter and Martyr, 2014, 6 min 31 sec, VO

Continuing his exploration of the interplay between sound and space, this film showcases Gates and members of The Black Monks in a performance intervention within the Catholic church of St. Laurence on the South Side of Chicago, during its demolition. The Black Monks are an experimental musical ensemble founded by Gates in 2008. Their music is rooted in the Black music of the South, including the blues, gospel, and wailings, but also linked to ascetic practices, related most closely to Eastern monastic traditions.

The group has been a through line in Gates's artistic practice. Gone Are The Days of Shelter and Martyr mourns the loss of sacred spaces and acknowledges their enduring spiritual significance.

The Flood, 2023, 24 min 31 sec, VO

This new film by Gates interweaves gospel renditions by Gates' ensemble, The Black Monks, the Uniting Voices Chicago youth choir, and members of the Thompson Community Singers with scientific commentary on evidence of the Great Biblical flood and the possibility of impending mass geological extinction. Through this unique combination of the scientific and the biblical, The Flood serves as a thought-provoking reflection on the urgency of the climate crisis. Premiering at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the film further exemplifies Gates's ongoing commitment to blending artistic expression with social engagement.