Chakaia Booker: Empty Seat
1 November – 21 December 2024
David Nolan Gallery
24 East 81 Street, New York

David Nolan Gallery is pleased to present Empty Seat, an exhibition that showcases Chakaia Booker (b. 1953, Newark, New Jersey)'s artistic breadth through a tightly curated presentation of works spanning 1996 to 2023.

A staple of the 1980s East Village art scene perhaps best known for her pioneering use of recycled rubber tires as a raw material for making often-monumental abstract sculpture (in the 80s, she used to gather discarded tires and blown-out rubber scraps from around the East Village), Booker's rubber-tire sculptures evoke political and social aspects, including the patterns of the tires alluding to African scarification; the exploitation tied to the collection of rubber; and the history of low wages African American workers received in the automobile industry. Booker’s work looks back to the social upheaval of the 1960s and the awakening of American society to the continuing plight of Black Americans.

Additionally, Shaved Portions, Booker's 75-foot public art piece currently on view in the Garment District, has had its run extended through February 21, 2025 (press kit here). It provides a visual counterpoint to Empty Seat and demonstrates the variety of scale in Booker’s oeuvre.

More information is in the above-linked press release, and a preview of works on view is below. See the Dropbox folder linked above to download high-resolution image files. Artwork information is in each image’s file title. Image reuse must be credited as “courtesy of David Nolan Gallery and copyright of the artist”, unless otherwise noted in the file title.