Black Broad Shoulders

In 2019 Gates installed AESOP (An Extended Song of Our People) (2019), a DJ booth installed in a commuter hub on the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) Red Line rapid transit route. … Situated at street level and just outside of one of the station’s turnstiles, AESOP’s glass doors and window façade offer commuters an unobstructed view of the DJ’s turntables, mixers/controllers, and vinyl/CD library. On prominent display in the darkened booth is Gates’s large neon work Afro (2018), synchronized to illuminate a silhouetted head’s halo-like Afro as if repeatedly growing outward. Gates, who was once employed by the CTA, said the 95^th Street Station’s commuters and Roseland’s Black inhabitants… “deserved to be surrounded by art and music, and shouldn’t have to travel far or leave the city to experience art and culture.” He continued, “It’s easily one of the most important artworks that I’ve made…”