Theaster Gates

Available for over a year

BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz meets the cultural entrepreneurs whose aesthetic sense infects and influences our daily lives... who know what we want, even when we do not... the men and women whose impact goes beyond mere commerce, it shapes contemporary culture. Programme 3. Theaster Gates - a man with two degrees in urban planning (and a further one in religious studies), who worked for the city's Transport Authority, but now uses sculpture, installation and performance to bridge the gap between art and life. Will Gompertz travels to Chicago to meet the the artist who is using collectors' desire for his artworks (they sell for anything upwards of several hundred thousand dollars each) to transform the rundown Southside where he now lives. Producer: Paul Kobrak.