Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank is a new cultural centre to be opened in conjunction with the city’s architecture Bienalle on October 3rd.
The former bank, which was purchased by the Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates for $1 (!) in 2012, will feature, as Gates puts it, a “repository for African American culture and history.” Alongside such display’s as 60,000 lantern slides from the University of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the libraries of the Johnson Publishing Archive, featuring magazines like Jet and Ebony, will be the, completely in-tact, vinyl record collection of Chicago’s very own Frankie Knuckles.
When listening to Gates speak of his space, the highlight and maintenance of African American art and culture is the first and foremost mission of Stony Island Arts Bank. Gates says, “It [Stony Island Arts Bank] is an institution of and for the South Side…a laboratory for the next generation of black artists and culture-interested people; a platform to showcase future leaders—be they painters, educators, scholars, or curators.”
Frankie Knuckle’s influence on the city of Chicago, as well as house music as a whole, is undeniable. From eponymous streets to non-other than President Barack Obama dedicating a day to his memory, Frankie Knuckle’s legacy as a DJ and Chicagoan is as symbiotic as one can be. Knuckles’ passed away in 2014 at the age of 59, and was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
While you patiently wait for the October opening or, fingers crossed, for a traveling exhibition, revisit the musical legacy of Frankie Knuckles with last April’s career spanning Essential Mix below.
Source: Art News
