Theaster Gates, textile collaboration reaches finale in Kyoto

Theaster Gates brings his textile-based practice into sharp focus with the closing stretch of the exhibition Glorious Robe at Hosoo Gallery in Kyoto, weaving African and Japanese garment histories into a single sculptural language.

From the AD HOC NEWS Art Desk » Exhibition & Show Desk - The editors cover exhibitions, auctions, collections, prizes and artistic positions. Published: August 31, 2026 · Last checked: August 31, 2026, 2:42 PM

Theaster Gates closes a major textile-focused exhibition in Kyoto with Theaster Gates: Glorious Robe. As Hosoo Gallery specifies, the joint project runs from April 11 to August 30, 2026 at Hosoo Gallery in Kyoto, bringing together garments, vessels and sound rooted in African and Japanese sartorial traditions. Hosoo Gallery press release

The exhibition Glorious Robe in Kyoto

Hosoo Gallery describes Glorious Robe as a collaboration between Gates and the Kyoto-based textile house Hosoo, built around new works that weave historical kimono fabrics into sculptural garments and ceramic vessels. The show occupies the gallery above Hosoo’s flagship store in central Kyoto with free admission for visitors. QUI Tokyo exhibition report

The exhibition runs from April 11 to August 30, 2026 and is open from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM, with last entry 15 minutes before closing, according to Hosoo’s detailed schedule. Gates’ works are presented alongside archival materials and sound, extending his long-standing interest in how craft traditions carry social memory across geographies.

Textiles, craft and exhibition context

In Glorious Robe, Gates links African diaspora garment histories with Japanese obi and kimono fabrics, treating textiles as both surface and archive. The presentation follows a sequence of recent exhibitions, including Dave: All My Relations at Gagosian New York in spring 2026, where he explored the legacy of enslaved ceramicist David Drake through broken and reconstructed clay vessels. HENI exhibition preview

Across these shows, Gates maintains a focus on how materials such as clay, wood and fabric can embody histories of labor, faith and Black music. In Kyoto, the Hosoo collaboration foregrounds textile techniques, while the New York installation used concrete and shattered ceramics to build a throne that symbolically honors Drake’s overlooked artistry.

The work core across media

Gates works across sculpture, installation, performance and urban intervention, often grounding his projects in specific communities such as Chicago’s South Side. In exhibitions like Unto Thee at the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago, he redeems discarded materials by transforming roofing, wood and industrial detritus into large-scale sculptures that address spiritual and social repair. Smart Museum exhibition page

Textile-based works such as those in Glorious Robe sit alongside ceramic vessels, tar paintings and sound pieces that draw on Black gospel and jazz traditions. Gates often organizes his practice into named bodies of work, including Afro-Mingei and Dave: All My Relations, each exploring how craft lineages intersect with questions of race, belief and the built environment.

Where the artist stands now

Theaster Gates’ exhibition Glorious Robe reaches its closing day on August 30, 2026 at Hosoo Gallery in Kyoto, marking the end of this particular textile collaboration within the current 30-day window.

Theaster Gates at a glance

• Artist: Theaster Gates
• Medium / Genre: Sculpture and installation (textile and ceramic)
• Born: 1973, Chicago, United States
• Place(s) of practice: Studio and Rebuild Foundation projects in Chicago
• Active since: Early 2000s, with increasing institutional visibility from around 2006
• Key work groups: Afro-Mingei, Unto Thee, Dave: All My Relations, Glorious Robe
• Current/last exhibition: Theaster Gates: Glorious Robe, Hosoo Gallery, Kyoto, April 11–August 30, 2026
• Major collections: Tate (London), Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)
• Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship (2025), Isamu Noguchi Award (2023), National Building Museum Vincent Scully Prize (2023), Art Basel Awards 2026 Medallist (Established Artists)
• Next date: August 30, 2026, closing day of Glorious Robe at Hosoo Gallery, Kyoto

This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.