Year: 2014
Medium: wood, rubber, tar, metal
Dimensions: 184.4 x 247.7 x 14.6 cm (72 1/2 x 97 1/2 x 5 3/4 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2024
For Gates, painting with tar is a direct embodiment of his roots. The material represents the artist’s respect for his father, who supported his family by persevering in the backbreaking work of tar roofing. The tangible knowledge and skills of tar roofers regarding tar and rubber, passed down to Gates from his father, allow them to take on new possibilities as media in the realm of art. Tar is not merely a material encapsulating the personal background of Gate’s relationship with his father, but as a symbol of urban development and industrial progress. It also serves as an unmistakable representation of the social inequalities and racial discrimination that have continued since the institution of slavery, and Gates firmly believes that this medium is directly linked to real-life issues that he and his community have faced. This conviction also serves as the underlying spirit of the Rebuild Foundation, an initiative led by the artist to empower communities and places marginalized by society and the city through the power of art. In this work, jet black tar firmly fills the top third of the painting, while below, rubber is used to create cascading layers, evoking the view of an expansive sky as one looks up from the ridge of a rooftop. Yet, the sky envisioned by the viewer may not be limited to the dark dusk created by the tar, rubber, and metal. This work was first presented at “Prospect.3: Notes for Now” (2014), the third biennial hosted by the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
