Photo Credit: © Theaster Gates
Featuring one-off test presses, acetates, and annotated one-offs.
New York’s Gagosian Gallery is currently exhibiting a part of Frankie Knuckles’ private record collection. The exhibition, titled ‘Social Works’, by Chicago artist and steward of Knuckles’ collection, Theaster Gates, is comprised of 5000 of Frankie’s records.
Some of the pieces on display include early acetate pressings of ‘Celine Dion – Misled (MK Dub)’, a test pressing of Danny Tenaglia’s ‘Hard & Soul’ dating back to 1995, and a test pressing of his first number one dance hit ‘Whistle Song’. Blue and red dots are visible on many of the records, as this system allowed the passed DJ to select them faster in a dark club setting. Red dots indicated a higher intensity, while blue meant deeper cuts.
Frankie Knuckles collection is also currently being digitalized by Russell EL Butler.
You can learn more about the ‘Social Works’ exhibition at the Gagosian here.