SoVA Anderson Lecturer
Rico Gatson
Anderson Lecture – September 23, 2025
Rico Gatson is a multimedia visual artist whose work explores themes of history, identity, popular culture and spirituality, through sculpture, painting, video and public art.
Over the course of almost two decades, he has been celebrated for politically layered artworks, often based on significant moments in black history. From the Watts Riots, the formation of the Black Panthers, to the election of President Barack Obama are a few subjects touched upon in his work. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at Contemporary Art Museum at The University of South Florida, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; The Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; The Essl Museum, Austria, Vienna and The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
In 2019 he completed a commission for the MTA Arts and Design titled “Beacons”; eight permanent large scale mosaic portraits of prominent individuals associated with the Bronx, installed at the 167th street subway station on the Grand Concourse.
His work is featured in numerous private collections and the permanent collections of The Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Denver Art Museum, The Cheekwood Museum, The Kempner Museum and The Yale University Art Museum, amongst many others.
Gatson is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts and New York University and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Artist's Statement
Over the past few years, my artistic practice has continued to explore the intersections of color, geometry, and African American cultural narratives, driven by a deep engagement with light, form, history, identity, spirituality, and healing.
My work utilizes painting as a vehicle to communicate layered ideas, drawing inspiration from sources ranging from the spiritual healing art of Hilma af Klint and Emma Kunz to African, sacred, and indigenous artistic traditions. Pattern, textiles, totemic forms, geometric abstraction, and mathematics inform my visual language, alongside the political work of Emory Douglas and the transcendental music of John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, and Albert Ayler, amongst many others.
In my 2024 exhibition, Above and Below at Miles McEnery Gallery, I presented abstract works consisting of stripes, circular forms, and triangles, creating vibrant, hard-edge paintings that invite viewers into a dynamic visual experience. This exploration of form and color extends into my large-scale public installation, Untitled (Collective Light Transfer), 2024, at NY Penn Station. This site-specific project engages with the movement and energy of the station, using shifting planes of color and geometric abstraction to create a sense of rhythm and flow. The installation transformed the space into an immersive environment, echoing the layered motion of commuters while offering a moment of reflection within the busy urban space.
Through these works, I aim to create a visual language that bridges the cosmic and the cultural, reclaiming and empowering historic motifs. My practice remains rooted in a commitment to honoring Black iconography, inviting viewers to engage with the complex narratives that shape our collective experience.