Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark

Installation view, Gary Simmons: Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark, 2014–15. Prospect 3, New Orleans, Louisiana, Oct 25, 2014–Jan 25, 2015. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles. © Gary Simmons. Photo: Scott McCrossen/FIVE65 Design.

Inspired by the Black Ark—Lee “Scratch” Perry’s famous recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica, where he pioneered dub reggae—Gary Simmons’s sculptural installation Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark serves as a flexible stage for conversations, music, and performance. Presented in conjunction with Gary Simmons: Public Enemy, a schedule of programs take place throughout the run of the exhibition, both at the museum and elsewhere in Chicago.

About the Work

Gary Simmons’s sculptural installation Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark consists of a stage and speakers that, when activated, serve as a venue for live performances. The speakers, which can be rearranged according to the performers’ needs or wishes, are encased with wood salvaged from the streets of New Orleans’s Tremé neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The objects bear the spray-painted traces of that history, just as they hold the memory of past performance activations. The title of the work references Lee “Scratch” Perry’s legendary Kingston studio, the Black Ark, while the black star motif on the stage gestures toward the Black Star Line, a passenger vessel route launched in 1919 by the Jamaican political leader Marcus Garvey as a way to facilitate personal and economic ties between Africa and Black people throughout the world.

These connections across time and space imbue Simmons’s platform with the suggestion of Black diasporic unity. Like Perry’s studio, much of which was constructed using repurposed materials and DIY fabrication, Simmons’s installation provides a platform for artists to come together and forge new sound out of reclaimed parts, symbolically actualizing Garvey’s dream of solidarity. The important role of music and dance in fulfilling this dream is further underscored by the motif’s allusion to the hip-hop duo Black Star, a collaboration between Mos Def and Talib Kweli.

Each time the work is installed, Simmons invites the exhibiting venue to program a performance series inspired by local performance histories.

Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark Program Schedule

Unless noted, all events are free but require a reservation. Tickets available soon.

DJ Bonita Appleblunt

June 11, 2023
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 4th-Floor Lobby

DJ Bonita Appleblunt spins a live set celebrating the opening of Gary Simmons: Public Enemy. This event is open to MCA Members only. Join or renew today!

D-Composed at 21Minus

June 17, 2023
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 4th-Floor Lobby

D-Composed presents a live chamber music experience that highlights musicians and composers within the African diaspora. This program is presented in conjunction with 21Minus, the MCA’s annual teen takeover event.

A Celebration of Chicago’s Social Dance History

July 22, 2023
Off-site location: South Shore Cultural Center, Dining Room

Experience a series of performances that trace the evolution of Black social dance, from night club chorus acts to house dance and voguing. Then, join the dance floor for an open dance party focused on Chicago Stepping and Footwork. Co-organized with Honey Pot Performance.

Dorian Sylvain and Family in Conversation

August 5, 2023
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 4th-Floor Lobby

A conversation between multidisciplinary artist Dorian Sylvain and her family exploring the ways that art moves across generations in the place they call home: Chicago. Organized in collaboration with Blanc Gallery.

ChiBrations: Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop

September 29, 2023
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Marjorie Blum Kovler Atrium, 2nd Floor

An after-hours celebration of local hip-hop on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the genre.