***Art/Music/Event Listing Editors***

Theaster Gates and the Black Monks of Mississippi perform "If We Breathe" 

in the Galleries of the Rubin Museum of Art

 WHEN: Saturday, January 22, 2011, beginning at 12pm

 WHERE: Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W 17th Street at 7th Avenue, New York

WHAT: The Black Monks of Mississippi, a group of singers and musicians founded by the Chicago-based sculptor, urban planner, and performance artist Theaster Gates, will present a rare performance as part of, and in the galleries of, the exhibition Grain of Emptiness: Buddhist-Inspired Contemporary Art.

If We Breathe calls for four singers to chant monastic sutras flavored by the rhythm and soul of the Black Church. One singer begins at noon; another, an hour later; a third, one more hour later; until, finally, at 3 pm, all four singers are extemporaneously building and weaving a soft cascade of sound based the sacred music of the previous hours.

This free four-hour performance is one of the works of art featured in the exhibition Grain of Emptiness: Buddhist- Inspired Contemporary Art, an assembly of videos, paintings, photographs, installations and performance work dating by Sanford Biggers, Atta Kim, Wolfgang Laib,  Charmion von Wiegand and Gates, on view through April 11, 2011 at the Rubin 

About the Rubin Museum of Art
Admission to RMA is $10 for adults; $5 for seniors and students; free for seniors the first Monday of every month; and free for children under 12 and for museum members. Gallery admission is free to all on Fridays between 6 pm and 10 pm.
 
Open Monday 11 am to 5 pm, Wednesday 11 am to 7 pm, Thursday 11 am to 5 pm, Friday 11 am to 10 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm; closed on Tuesday. The Rubin Museum of Art is located at 150 West 17th Street, New York, NY. To reach the museum by subway, visitors may take the A, C or E to 14th Street; the 1 to 18th Street; 1, 2, 3 to 14th Street; F and V to 14th Street; N, R, Q, W, 4, 5 and 6 to 14th or the L to 6th Avenue. By bus, visitors may take the B20 to the corner of 7th Avenue and 17th Street.         

# # #