Black History Month
In a year marked by the promise of political transformation, Gagosian will celebrate Black History Month with a diverse program of online events exploring Black identity. Through a dynamic mix of live and recorded cultural conversations and presentations of artists and their work, as well as essays and other materials from the gallery’s extensive publishing archives, viewers will be invited to consider the rich contributions that Black artists and cultural workers have made to history, and how the past, both historical and recent, can inspire and animate the present and future.
In Conversation
Sir David Adjaye OBE and Zoë Ryan
Architect David Adjaye discusses his archival project Adjaye Africa Architecture: A Photographic Survey of Metropolitan Architecture with Zoë Ryan, Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania. For this decade-long project, published in seven volumes, Adjaye traveled to the capital city of every major African country to photograph the continent’s built environment.
Artist to Artist: Isaac Julien and Meleko Mokgosi
This video features a dialogue between artists Isaac Julien and Meleko Mokgosi, moderated by Zoé Whitley, director of Chisenhale Gallery, London, and presented by Gagosian in partnership with the Decolonising Arts Institute of the University of the Arts London (UAL). The two artists discuss narrative and montage strategies in their respective practices as filmmaker and painter.
The Bigger Picture
Exalt: Youth Justice Can’t Stop
As 2020 came to a close, Nathaniel Mary Quinn spoke with Gisele Castro, executive director of exalt, a New York City nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of court-involved youth by providing a path to success through effective educational engagement. Quinn is a former educator at exalt and now serves as a member of the organization’s board.
In Conversation
Meleko Mokgosi and Louise Neri
On the occasion of Meleko Mokgosi’s recent exhibition Democratic Intuition, the artist speaks with Louise Neri about notions of pedagogy, the nation state, and value systems wrapped up in his visual epic.
NXTHVN
NXTHVN is a new national arts model that empowers emerging artists and curators of color through education and access. Through intergenerational mentorship, professional development, and cross-sector collaboration, NXTHVN accelerates professional careers in the arts. Join Titus Kaphar and Jason Price on a tour of the organization’s headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut. They discuss the founding and vision for this singular arts space.
Bebe Miller and Cynthia Oliver
The legendary choreographers discuss their history together, the evolution of Cynthia Oliver’s boom!, imposed boundaries on “Black dance,” and the choreographies of the pandemic.
Theaster Gates: Black Image Corporation
As a prelude to his first-ever solo exhibition in New York, Theaster Gates discusses his prescient work with the photographic archive of Chicago’s Johnson Publishing Company and his formation of Black Image Corporation as a conceptual project. In conversation with Louise Neri, he expands on his strategies as artist and social innovator in his quest to redeem and renew the sacred power of Black images and Black space.
The Bigger Picture
Arts Leaders of Color
Jess Sims interviews Quanice Floyd and Joshua Henry Jenkins of the Arts Administrators of Color Network to discuss the organization’s COVID-19 emergency fund for BIPOC artists and arts administrators.
The Bigger Picture
Sky High Farm × Project EATS
Dan Colen and Linda Goode Bryant are both artists who have founded nonprofits devoted to food justice. Here they speak about art, food, and life, including how they arrived at farming and the urgency of their projects’ missions during the current health crisis.