For over thirty years, Marvin Tate (b. 1959) has been active as a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, community activist and art educator, exploring themes ranging from personal narratives to social justice. A native of the West Side of Chicago, Tate has received critical acclaim from The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Reader. He has received awards from Young Chicago Authors, The Poetry Foundation, and most recently (2024) from Elastic Arts Foundation for exceptional leadership and contributions to Chicago’s creative community. In 2025, Tate was nominated for the Jeff Award in scenic design for the play Rhinoceros presented at Theatre Y.
Tate's approach to art in the form of assemblage blends found materials and rich, layered narratives. It highlights the connection between Tate's work and the themes of fluidity and musicality in poetry, emphasizing the idea of fragmented yet harmonious expression.
Assemblage as an art form has a rich history rooted in the use of found objects, emerging as a significant movement in the early 20th century. It is closely associated with Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism, which sought to break away from traditional art forms by incorporating everyday materials and objects, challenging conventional boundaries between art and life.
Assemblage not only gives voice to new visual expressions but also represents a way to explore themes of identity, memory, and community. The everyday items used in Tate’s artworks, like piano parts, paper bag handles, buttons, shoe inserts, mannequins, wine corks, jewelry, toy parts, pieces of clothing, etc., evoke a sense of history and shared narratives, drawing from his own environment or personal experiences.
By using piano pieces in his work, Tate connects to his life as a singer-songwriter, to his collaborations with other musicians and to the poetry of sound, thus creating a metaphor for how music, life, and personal stories intertwine. The fragmented piano keys become symbols of the continuous flow of life’s rhythms, where each moment - like a note in a melody - may fade or be discarded, but can also be reassembled, reinterpreted, and given new meaning in the process of creation.
Found objects are imbued with the energy of their past, whether it's the traces of wear and tear, the history embedded in the object’s original function, or the emotions associated with its use. When these objects are repurposed into art, their energy is recharged and redirected. This new energy manifests through Tate’s engagement with the materials, the creative process, and the emotional impact the work has on the viewer.
Ultimately, art made from found objects embodies the power of transformation—taking something discarded, obsolete, or broken, and turning it into something that holds new meaning, vitality, and purpose. This transformation is symbolic of the larger human experience: the ability to reinvent, re-imagine, and resurrect. By creating new forms and energies from things that once had no value, artists can offer fresh perspectives on life and creativity.