In Focus: Theaster Gates, ‘Protected Vessel – Yellow’, 2025 at White Cube Paris
In 2004, @theastergates travelled to Tokoname in Japan to undertake a training residency in ceramics. This formative period of study, and the discipline of Japanese craft traditions more broadly, has been a longstanding point of reference within his practice, finding sculptural articulation here in the artist’s ‘Protected Vessel’ works.
While gesturing towards clay as a foundational material in his sculptural practice, the vessels mark a new direction: each form is cast in plaster, then bound, wrapped and sealed in roofing skins, the act of encasement functioning as a gesture of care and preservation, akin to embalming, imbuing the works with an elegiac presence.
📍 ‘And Other Paintings’ is now on view at White Cube Paris until 4 April 2026.
🔗 Click the link in our bio to learn more about the exhibition.
@whitecube
