Over the past four decades, Charles Gaines, noted American conceptual artist, faculty member at CalArts, musician, writer, and recipient of the 2019 Edward MacDowell Medal, has engaged in a rigorous application of numbered systems-a process that interrogates the relationship between the object and its subjective realms.
On the occasion of his first exhibition with the gallery, ‘Palm Trees and Other Works,’ we take a closer look into Gaines’s generative process and holistic approach to artmaking by focusing on the creation of the new works debuting in Los Angeles. Following the artist from Palm Canyon near Palm Springs to his studio, and finally to the exhibition in Los Angeles, Gaines offers a unique view into his practice with insights from curators, peers, and collaborators including: Troy Carter, Collector & Founder CEO of Q&A Media, Inc., Naima J. Keith, Vice President of Education and Public Programs, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Fred Moten, Professor, Department of Performance Studies, New York University.