{"id":2251978,"date":"2026-01-26T23:53:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2251978"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:53:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:53:28","slug":"lexa-gates-is-a-performance-artist-but-does-she-know-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/lexa-gates-is-a-performance-artist-but-does-she-know-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Lexa Gates is a performance artist \u2013 but does she know it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"94cb7ba6-90c5-43fd-b8df-f3c97e3328a6\">\u2019Twas the night before album release day for Lexa Gates but the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/new-york\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/new-york\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/new-york\">New York<\/a> rapper and singer was stuck, going nowhere: getting her steps in on a giant, circular treadmill, while art gallery patrons gawped at her. For 10 hours. No toilet breaks allowed, an adult nappy strapped on just in case.<\/p>\n<p>This very literal take on the hamster wheel of music promotion, though, was of the prolific 24-year-old\u2019s own devising and choosing. And, for sure, a savvy piece of music promotion, with fans, stans and rubberneckers rocking up to Jeffrey Deitch in downtown Manhattan and previewing her sixth album <em>I Am<\/em> on headphones while, from 2pm to midnight, the Queens-born artist did the same, walking and jogging and (not literally) cycling through its 18 tracks of soulful R&amp;B and hip-hop on a never-ending loop.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"94cb7ba6-90c5-43fd-b8df-f3c97e3328a6-2\">Titled <em>The Wheel<\/em>, the idea behind this kinetic, art installation stunt, per the press release, was to &#8216;reinforce the message of persistence, emotional resilience and forward motion that acts as the central theme of the record&#8217;. Or, as Gates puts it more prosaically \u2013 and appropriately repetitively \u2013 when we talk five days after her marathon stunt, &#8216;during the process of making this album, I was going through this cycle.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-video youtube-facade\" data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"aqGTL_i2VvM\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\">\n<div class=\"watch-on-iframe-aqGTL_i2VvM\" data-yt-video-token=\"aqGTL_i2VvM\" title=\"Lexa Gates - Change (Official Audio) - YouTube\">\n<span class=\"youtube-video-title\">Lexa Gates &#8211; Change (Official Audio) &#8211; YouTube<\/span><br \/>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"play-button\" viewbox=\"0 0 234.67 165.33\"><path fill=\"red\" d=\"M229.763 25.817c-2.699-10.162-10.65-18.165-20.748-20.881C190.716 0 117.333 0 117.333 0S43.951 0 25.651 4.936C15.553 7.652 7.6 15.655 4.903 25.817 0 44.236 0 82.667 0 82.667s0 38.429 4.903 56.85C7.6 149.68 15.553 157.681 25.65 160.4c18.3 4.934 91.682 4.934 91.682 4.934s73.383 0 91.682-4.934c10.098-2.718 18.049-10.72 20.748-20.882 4.904-18.421 4.904-56.85 4.904-56.85s0-38.431-4.904-56.85\"\/><path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"m93.333 117.559 61.333-34.89-61.333-34.894z\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"watch-on-youtube-aqGTL_i2VvM\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/aqGTL_i2VvM\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/aqGTL_i2VvM\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">Watch On <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"youtube-logo\" viewbox=\"0 0 507.9 113.39\"><g fill=\"#fff\"><path d=\"M64.792 80.99V32.396l42.082 24.297zm93.803-63.285a20.285 20.285 0 0 0-14.32-14.32C131.642 0 80.99 0 80.99 0S30.337 0 17.705 3.385a20.286 20.286 0 0 0-14.32 14.32C0 30.338 0 56.693 0 56.693S0 83.049 3.385 95.68A20.285 20.285 0 0 0 17.705 110c12.632 3.386 63.285 3.386 63.285 3.386s50.652 0 63.285-3.386a20.284 20.284 0 0 0 14.32-14.32c3.385-12.632 3.385-38.988 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1.274-.849 2.22-1.928 2.838-3.241V34.229h15.986m81.995.001v71.007h-12.511l-1.391-8.688h-.345c-3.402 6.564-8.498 9.845-15.292 9.845-4.711 0-8.186-1.543-10.426-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.358-7.915-3.358-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.347 5.426 1.041 6.776.696 1.353 1.855 2.027 3.476 2.027 1.391 0 2.723-.423 3.996-1.275 1.275-.849 2.22-1.928 2.839-3.241V34.229h15.985\"\/><path d=\"M365.552 20.908h-15.87v84.329h-15.637v-84.33h-15.869V8.05h47.376v12.858m76.811 53.636c0 5.174-.215 9.229-.639 12.162-.424 2.937-1.139 5.021-2.143 6.255-1.004 1.236-2.357 1.854-4.053 1.854a7.404 7.404 0 0 1-3.65-.927c-1.12-.618-2.026-1.544-2.722-2.78V50.796c.54-1.93 1.467-3.513 2.78-4.749 1.313-1.234 2.74-1.853 4.285-1.853 1.623 0 2.876.637 3.766 1.91.886 1.275 1.505 3.418 1.853 6.43.348 3.011.523 7.297.523 12.857zm14.652-28.964c-.967-4.478-2.531-7.721-4.692-9.73-2.163-2.007-5.136-3.011-8.919-3.011-2.935 0-5.676.83-8.224 2.49a16.926 16.926 0 0 0-5.908 6.545h-.117l.001-37.416h-15.405v100.777h13.204l1.622-6.717h.347c1.235 2.393 3.088 4.285 5.56 5.675 2.47 1.39 5.213 2.085 8.225 2.085 5.404 0 9.382-2.491 11.931-7.471 2.548-4.982 3.823-12.76 3.823-23.341V64.23c0-7.953-.484-14.17-1.448-18.65\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"c536545a-29c9-49ef-8f1f-650f76fe687f\">&#8216;I was obsessed with some person, and I would go back to LA, and be too scared to say anything, and get upset about it, and then go back home to New York, and then cry in New York, and think: &#8216;Oh, well, next time I&#8217;m gonna go back, and then I&#8217;m gonna really say it this time.&#8217; And then I would go back, and then I&#8217;d be too scared, and then I&#8217;d go back home. It was just cycles in life.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Certainly, too, it highlights Gates\u2019 truly solo artistry. Unlike most pop, R&amp;B and hip-hop album &#8216;projects&#8217; these days, <em>I Am<\/em> features no guest vocalists or stunt casting. As she puts it: &#8216;This project has no features. It&#8217;s just all me, chatting, forever.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>So did her unquestionably impressive achievement bring her insight and self-knowledge? Not entirely.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It was like self-torture, honestly!&#8217; she admits with admirable lack of stoic cool. \u201cForty minutes in, I already wanted to get off of that thing. It hurt really bad. And&#8230; the time passed. It was just some weird dystopian thing I wanted to try. I&#8217;m surprised people were there the whole time. Actually I was waiting, hoping that people would leave and then I could just sit! But they were there, just watching me the whole time. So I had to keep on going.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-rYeCZ5gbCJZ3Zi7FC7yr4\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-rYeCZ5gbCJZ3Zi7FC7yr4 slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Gates has form in going the extra mile \u2013 or, even, going nowhere \u2013 to amplify the noise around her music. In October 2024, to launch her last album <em>Elite Vessel<\/em>, she sat for 10 hours in a Perspex cage in New York\u2019s Union Square. For the duration of <em>(Alone) In the Box <\/em>she denied herself food or water. It was a purposefully ascetic choice that, like <em>The Wheel<\/em>, put this touring, constantly performing artist \u2013 momentarily at least \u2013 in control of a career that, for the young, extremely online musician in particular, is always moving. Always <em>on<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;For sure,&#8217; says Gates. &#8216;<em>The Box<\/em> was a more restful place where I was at peace. I didn&#8217;t have to use my phone. I could just chill. But <em>The Wheel<\/em> was honestly way more. It didn&#8217;t really feel like it was all in my control, because I had to keep going.&#8217;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout \" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"1bba25aa-a62c-4b00-9fcf-b383630a0be8\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:4608px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:66.67%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1920-80.jpg.webp 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1600-80.jpg.webp 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1280-80.jpg.webp 1280w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-768-80.jpg.webp 768w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-415-80.jpg.webp 415w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-360-80.jpg.webp 360w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 710px) 670px, calc(100vw - 30px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV.jpg\" alt=\"Lexa Gates the wheel\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1920-80.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1600-80.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1280-80.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-768-80.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-415-80.jpg 415w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-360-80.jpg 360w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV-320-80.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 710px) 670px, calc(100vw - 30px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/jyDrAg3e8Jgok6yvT7g5LV.jpg\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>(Image credit: Lexa Gates)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"bee7709e-8b11-416e-a78e-760fad8a2eb9\">So both art pieces, in opposite ways, comment on the realities of her day-job. She nods. They do &#8216;reflect what you&#8217;re saying about the performances and the tour. It&#8217;s crazy, because when you&#8217;re on stage, if you&#8217;re choking up and you can&#8217;t do it anymore, no one cares! You have to keep going!&#8217; she exclaims in sentiments familiar to those expressed by spotlight-weary peers such as Chappell Roan and Halsey. &#8216;The song keeps going and it&#8217;s loud and over-stimulating and people are [still] watching you. Nobody really cares if you&#8217;re tired or if you want to stop.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>With their foregrounding and challenging of the creator herself, these endurance-art pieces nod to the work of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/marina-abramovic\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/marina-abramovic\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/marina-abramovic\">Marina Abramovi\u0107<\/a>. Or, to Cornelia Parker\u2019s 1995 work <em>The Maybe<\/em>, in which Tilda Swinton spent a week in glass vitrine in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/london\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/london\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.wallpaper.com\/tag\/london\">London<\/a>\u2019s Serpentine Gallery. But Gates says she only discovered that work after she came up with the idea for <em>The Box<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Honestly, I don&#8217;t know anything about that stuff. All this is just silly, organic ideas. Even with <em>The Box<\/em>, they told me to make TikToks but I just thought it&#8217;d be funny to put myself in a box. Everybody always brings up Marina, but I&#8217;m not that familiar with her work.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>As we speak, <em>I Am<\/em> has only been out a week. But Gates is no slouch, having released six albums in six years. So, any thoughts on her next performance art piece?<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;After just getting off of that shit, I&#8217;m thinking I&#8217;m never doing that again!\u201d she replies, laughing. &#8216;That was literally so bad. But I&#8217;ll come up with something.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Lexa Gates will, then, circle back to us.<\/p>\n<p>I Am <em>is out now. Lexa Gates plays the Governors Ball, in her home neighbourhood, Flushing, Queens, on 7th June <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.wallpaper.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2019Twas the night before album release day for Lexa Gates but the New York rapper and singer was stuck, going nowhere: getting her steps in on a giant, circular treadmill, while art gallery patrons gawped at her. For 10 hours. No toilet breaks allowed, an adult nappy strapped on just in case. This very literal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2251979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lexa-Gates-is-a-performance-artist-\u2013-but-does-she.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2251980,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251978\/revisions\/2251980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2251979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}