Theaster Gates' Black Chapel unveiled as the 21st Serpentine Pavilion

Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates' latest creation, the Black Chapel, will be unveiled on June 10, 2022, as the Serpentine Pavilion for the year. The architectural expertise of Adjaye Associates has been instrumental in bringing the Black Chapel to life, with Goldman Sachs continuing their support of the annual project for the eighth year in a row. 

Designed as a gathering space for contemplation, meditation, and engagement, the Black Chapel highlights sacred music and serves as a stage for Serpentine's live program throughout the summer and beyond. This unique installation invites the public to reflect, connect, and experience joy.

 

Black Chapel, the 21st Serpentine Pavilion

The artist behind Black Chapel draws inspiration from a variety of architectural styles that inform their practice. The structure pays homage to bottle kilns in Stoke-on-Trent, beehive kilns in the Western United States, San Pietro and Roman tempiettos, as well as traditional African building structures like the Museum mud huts in Cameroon and the Kasabi Tombs in Kampala, Uganda.

Inspired by the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, the artist has created a new series of tar paintings specifically for the Black Chapel. In an effort to showcase their personal touch and style, seven panels hang from the interior structure. The artist also utilizes roofing strategies and torch-down techniques, which pay homage to their father's craft as a roofer.

To further emphasize the lack of communal and spiritual spaces in urban communities, an operating bronze bell salvaged from St. Laurence, a prominent Catholic Church in Chicago's South Side, sits near the entrance of the Pavilion. The historic bell serves as a call to assembly, congregation, and contemplation during the summer's public events.

Theaster Gates said: “The name Black Chapel is important because it reflects the invisible parts of my artistic practice. It acknowledges the role that sacred music and the sacred arts have had on my practice and the collective quality of these emotional and communal initiatives. Black Chapel also suggests that in these times there could be a space where one could rest from the pressures of the day and spend time in quietude. I have always wanted to build spaces that consider the power of sound and music as a healing mechanism and emotive force that allows people to enter a space of deep reflection and deep participation.”

Bettina Korek, Chief Executive, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, said: “We are so grateful for Theaster Gates’ Black Chapel. The architecture, the remarkable paintings he specially created for the space as well as the polyphonic programme of events it catalyses, are astonishing. Black Chapel brings spirituality around Gates’ extraordinary vision. We are thrilled to present this stunning Pavilion with our loyal partners and supporters, for all of London’s people and visitors to come together and enjoy. Serpentine is proud to play a part in making Gates’ vision a reality, and for Serpentine’s Summer programme to build new connections between art and society. A platform for participation, and live performances, with an emphasis on music, public engagement, rituals and the intensity of togetherness, Black Chapel inspires structure and meaning. In parallel to Gates’ incredible programme, we are also delighted to see the return of Park Nights, the experimental, interdisciplinary, live platform that has supported many artists in the early stages of their careers as well as pioneering writers and thinkers from around the world.”

The Serpentine Pavilion 2022 is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm.

Gates’ Serpentine Pavilion 2022: Black Chapel follows The Question of Clay, a multi-institution project featuring exhibitions at Whitechapel Gallery (September 2021 – January 2022), White Cube (September – October 2021) and a two-year long research project at the V&A.