Brown cylinder narrowing and then flaring out at the top.
Artwork Details
Medium
glazed ceramic
Context
The saki pitcher and cup were a result of the Yamaguchi Institute at HPAC. Gates was exploring his knowledge of Japanese ceramics and this work was a narrative of Japanese and Black people in civil rights south. In 2007, Gates held a series of soul food dinners on Chicago’s South Side to honor his mentor, Yamaguchi. However, Yamaguchi never existed. Gates had studied pottery in Japan, but he was producing bowls that cost several thousand dollars to make but sold for only $25. “I decided that the reasons were: I’m a nobody, so the bowl is a nothing; the bowl looks like lots of other bowls that are mass produced you can buy for even cheaper than $25; the bowl has no magical context that would help get it valued in other ways. If I could be a somebody; if I could elevate [the bowl] beyond the everyday context, would people value it more? That became my social experiment.” Items from this dinner became part of the Yamaguchi Institute
(the name Gates uses for his dinners).
Acquisition
Accession
2016.14-125
Source or Donor
Chuck Thurow
Acquisition Method
Gift
Credit Line
Collection of DePaul Art Museum, Gift of Chuck Thurow
