Another award, another day: Theaster Gates is at it again

It seems that not a week goes by without some major announcement concerning the art or works of Theaster Gates.

This week’s to-do is all about Gates being one of eight finalists in line to win Artes Mundi 6, the United Kingdom’s largest international contemporary art prize. The competition asks world known exciting artists to examine how art can bring about social change.

For Artes Mundi, Gates created new installation When We Believe, in which he brings together “a group of disparate objects to explore the relationships between the invisible mysterious workings of spirit and labor.” There’s a Boli power object from Mali that is used to ward away spirits and protect crops and the installation also includes a a goat on a bike used in Masonic initiation ceremonies. As always, Gates challenges the so-called “norm” by asking people to rethink the symbolic objects of the Eurocentric view of Christianity.

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This British art prize is known for its cerebral elements. The artists involved focus on global themes including the politics of social control and institutional space while others delve into media manipulation. If you’ll be in Cardiff, Gates work plus the work of the other seven finalists,will be on display starting October 24 at the National Museum Wales. The winner will be announced in January 2015. The other finalists include Sharon Lockhart (USA), Carlos Bunga (Portugal), Renzo Martens (Netherlands), Sanja Iveković (Croatia), Karen Mirza & Brad Butler (UK); Ragnar Kjartansson (Iceland), Renata Lucas (Brazil) and Omer Fast (Israel).