Tavares Strachan: Between Me and You

Tavares Strachan’s artworks intentionally defy categorization. 

Spanning sculpture, performance, painting, ceramics, and immersive installations, Strachan’s work explores themes of cultural displacement, migration, and human aspiration by uplifting often hidden histories. 

At the Blanton, Strachan transforms the Contemporary Project gallery into a ‘meadow’ of dried rice grass. Rice is a staple of the Afro-Caribbean diet and connects the people and histories of the African diaspora with African societies. Viewed from above, the terrain shapes the form of a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol. A West African system of writing through symbols, Adinkra represent concepts or aphorisms. They are deeply tied to the philosophy of West Africa and have over the centuries contributed to preserving West African history, stories, and values. Here, Strachan uses the Andikra symbol Mmere Dane, or “time changes,” which articulates the spiritual and philosophical concept of impermanence. At the center of the rice meadow sits a large-scale ceramic sculpture.  

Much of Strachan’s practice is connected to an ongoing research project, The Encyclopedia of Invisibility. This over 3,000-page opus documents people, events, and ideas that didn’t typically make it into mainstream encyclopedias. Through this project, Strachan questions the construction of historically canonized narratives that marginalize or obscure others while bringing unseen histories and important stories into the light. A version of the Encyclopedia will be on view in the exhibition.  

In addition to the room-sized installation, three sculptures from Strachan’s Black Madonna series will be on view in the Blanton’s European art galleries. These sculptures are based on a common iconography in Christian art known as the Pietà, in which Mary holds the dead body of her son Jesus. Strachan’s sculptures depict important Black man from history who were violently quieted, held by their mothers. Here, he shifts the poignant poses and figures away from a religious framework and towards a narrative of maternal and community loss.  

Organized by Hannah Klemm, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Blanton Museum of Art

Artist Biography

Tavares Strachan was born in 1979 in Nassau, Bahamas, and currently lives and works between New York City and Nassau. He received a BFA in Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003 and an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University in 2006. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship (2022), 2019-20 Artist in Residence at the Getty Research Institute, 2018 Frontier Art Prize, 2014 LACMA Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant. Strachan’s work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions and biennials including Prospect 3. Biennial, New Orleans; Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, France, The Bahamas National Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; and The Hayward Gallery in London, England. His work is in numerus public collections, including the Blanton Museum of Art. Follow the artist on Instagram at @tavaresstrachan