Love and Torment: Frances Waite

Growing up in the DMV, Allen Golder wanted to be a rapper. Now, while you may not find him on Soundcloud, his work has been shown in galleries around the world.

I recently saw Allen's work at NADA presented by No Gallery. It was impossible not to notice their massive sculpture "Foundation 2", a towering behemoth composed of concrete casts of Black Air Force 1's.

Allen shows up to our interview wearing his signature Missing Tee which serves as a reminder for the nationwide crisis of missing Black women and girls. I’m wearing the Ancestor Tee from the same collection, a piece adorned with Black freedom fighters from Sojourner Truth to Fela Kuti and Angela Davis. The pieces attest to Allen's deep reverence for Black culture and liberation.

In our interview Allen and I spoke about sneakers as inspo, the art world and Goonew.

Hey, How are you doing today?

I'm alright. Another day. How are you doing?

I’m doing good. Are you an artist?

That's what I would consider myself. Everything I do is an extension of that word.

What's your favorite gallery to visit in New York?

I only pay attention to two or three galleries, Participant, Housing and No Gallery. Shoutouts to Casey Gleghorn at No Gallery. He was the first art dealer to really get behind me.

Tell me about your show in the UK.

It was my debut internationally and my first time ever leaving the country. We shipped all my artwork to Screw Gallery and it got returned to my house. I said "fuck it" and remade the whole thing on the spot.

The title piece of my show "Body Surrogate" is a sculpture that uses rap videos. Taking street art and putting it in a gallery is supposed to reposition people's perception. There aren't a lot of Black people in Leeds, so I wanted to make something for the one to two Black kids passing through.

Favorite materials to work with:

Concrete, Cotton shirts, epoxy resin and steel. Expect to start seeing a lot of shattered glass in the shows coming up. That's something I’ve been trying to incorporate.

If your work was an album, what would it sound like?

A mix of Cities Aviv, Nine Inch Nails and Goonew.

Goonew, he sounds familiar. He had that crazy funeral right.

Yeah he had his body stood up in a full Amiri fit at his wake. The studio that I shared with my best friend in DC was right behind the club they did that at.

Your work as a sneaker:

The Comme des Garçons Foamposites collaboration. Anyone that knows anything about the DMV knows that Foamposites was hitting here before they were hitting anywhere else. Intersecting that with the most avant garde fashion house possible is the epitome of who I am.

What are three words to describe your work?

Passionate, Raw, Calculated

Why do you make art?

Therapy. Art to me is about working through things. I’m just trying to find my way home.

What are you making next?

There's this practice I call de-processing where it's creating less and less process intensive work as I go on. As a conceptual artist, your mind is the studio most of the time. I don't sketch anything.

I’m doing a passion project that has to do with my family and our relationship. I’m using my work to connect more deeply with them, that's something I’ve been lacking in.