Born in Chicago (US) in 1973. In 2006, Gates graduated from Iowa State University with a master's degree (BS) in Urban Planning, Ceramics, and Religious Studies. Since 2006, he has been working on the “Dorchester Project”, a project to revitalize the Black community in Chicago’s South Side. The project is an event that weaves community history while supporting local culture by purchasing vacant houses, storing and utilizing a collection of records and books taken from bookstores that were thought to be buried and disappeared in the local area. In 2015, Gates purchased a bank building of the Prohibition era from the city of Chicago for $1 USD and opened it as an art center in 2018 after a large-scale renovation. It has taken up and exhibited collections of photographs, artifacts, and records from the University of Chicago and locations across the States. Alongside the activities as a promoter of this large-scale project, Gates’s philosophy as the source of his ceramic and installation works has a resonance with Japanese “Mingei (folk arts)”. Since studying ceramics during his stay in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture in 1999, Gates has visited Japan multiple times and has been working on “Afro Mingei” in recent years, which combines Japanese philosophy and black identity together. He has received numerous awards, including the 2015 Artes Mundi 6 Prize (Wales, UK), and became an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2021. He was also invited to Documenta 13 in 2012 and the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. His solo exhibitions include Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, US) in 2019, Palais de Tokyo (Paris, FR) in 2020, and Whitechapel Gallery (London, UK) in 2021. Gates garnered attention for his design of the pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2022. He also participated in “STILL ALIVE Aichi Triennale 2022”. He is currently based in Chicago.