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{{Short description|Bahamian conceptual artist (born 1979)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Infobox person
{{advert|date=April 2019}}
| name = Tavares Strachan
{{more footnotes|date=April 2019}}
| image = Does Technology Need The Arts To Build A Better Future?, Tavares Strachan.jpg
{{BLP sources|date=April 2019}}
| caption = Strachan in 2017
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|12|16}}
| birth_place = [[Nassau, Bahamas]]
| education = [[College of the Bahamas]]
| alma_mater = [[Rhode Island School of Design]]<br> [[Yale University]]
| occupation = Conceptual artist
}}
}}
'''Tavares Henderson Strachan''' (born December 16, 1979) is a contemporary, conceptual artist whose multi-media installations investigate science, technology, mythology, history, and exploration. He lives and works in [[New York City]] and [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]], [[Bahamas]].
'''Tavares Henderson Strachan''' (born 1979) is a Bahamian conceptual artist.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rodney|first=Seph|date=2021-09-29|title=Pulling the Caribbean into Conceptual Focus|url=http://hyperallergic.com/680557/pulling-the-caribbean-into-conceptual-focus/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US}}</ref> His contemporary multi-media installations investigate science, technology, mythology, history, and exploration.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Gilda|date=December 2020|title=Tavares Strachan|url=https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/202009/tavares-strachan-84413|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Artforum.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Lescaze|first=Zoë|date=2020-09-16|title=The Artist Whose Medium Is Science|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/t-magazine/tavares-strachan.html|access-date=2021-10-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He lives and works in [[New York City]] and [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]], [[Bahamas]].


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Strachan was born in [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]], the capital city of the [[Bahamas]], in 1979 Strachan was introduced to the arts as a child through his family’s involvement in [[Junkanoo]], a historical annual parade and cultural celebration incorporating live music, dance, and elaborate costumes hand-made by competing groups.
Strachan was born in [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]], [[Bahamas]], on December 16, 1979.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Tolia-Kelly|first=Divya P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3gaOCwAAQBAJ|title=Visuality/Materiality: Images, Objects and Practices|date=2016-02-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-00112-6|pages=32|language=en}}</ref> He was introduced to the arts as a child through his family’s involvement in [[Junkanoo]], a historical annual parade and cultural celebration incorporating live music, dance, and elaborate costumes hand-made by competing groups.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=March 2021|title=Top Ten: Tavares Strachan|url=https://www.artforum.com/print/202102/tavares-strachan-84996|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Artforum.com|language=en-US}}</ref>


Initially a painter, Strachan earned his Associate of Fine Arts degree from the [[College of the Bahamas]] in 1999. In 2000, he moved to the US to enroll in the glass department at the [[Rhode Island School of Design]], where he began to pursue more conceptual projects that would foreground the prevalent themes and minimalist aesthetic of his later work. After completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003,<ref name=gulf>{{cite news|title=Conrad Shawcross and Tavares Strachan’ Embrace the Spirit of Exploration at the RISD Museum|url=http://www.gulfdaily.net/conrad-shawcross-and-tavares-strachan-embrace-the-spirit-of-exploration-at-the-risd-museum/|accessdate=18 November 2012|newspaper=Gulf Daily Magazine|date=11 July 2011}}</ref> Strachan went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from [[Yale University]] in 2006. Eager to discover the world beyond the [[Caribbean]] and ever aware of his tenuous circumstances as a foreign scholarship-based student, Strachan learned to question the boundaries of what was possible and impossible in matters of life and art. This dichotomy continues to be central to his practice.
Initially a painter, Strachan earned his Associate of Fine Arts degree from the [[College of the Bahamas]] in 1999. In 2000, he moved to the United States to enroll in the glass department at the [[Rhode Island School of Design]], where he began to pursue more conceptual projects that would foreground the prevalent themes and minimalist aesthetic of his later work. After completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003,<ref name=gulf>{{cite news|title=Conrad Shawcross and Tavares Strachan' Embrace the Spirit of Exploration at the RISD Museum|url=http://www.gulfdaily.net/conrad-shawcross-and-tavares-strachan-embrace-the-spirit-of-exploration-at-the-risd-museum/|accessdate=18 November 2012|newspaper=Gulf Daily Magazine|date=11 July 2011}}</ref> Strachan went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from [[Yale University]] in 2006.<ref name=":0" />


==Career==
== Work ==
Strachan’s ambitious and open-ended practice examines the intersection of art, science, and the environment,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-08|title=In Plain Sight review – Tavares Strachan's baffling, thrilling, uplifting visions|url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/sep/08/in-plain-sight-review-tavares-strachan-baffling-thrilling-visions|access-date=2021-10-03|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> and has included collaborations with numerous organizations and institutions across the disciplines.
Through his career, Tavares Strachan has engineered a multidisciplinary artistic practice that mobilizes our visual, intellectual, and emotional faculties. Aeronautical and astronomical science, deep-sea exploration, and extreme climatology are but some of the thematic arenas out of which Strachan creates performative allegories that tell of cultural displacement, human aspiration, and mortal limitation. Strachan’s artistic practice and methodology often circumvent the usual narrative functioning in a more unconventional framework. Strachan’s ambitious and open-ended practice examines the intersection of art, science, and the environment, and has included collaborations with numerous organizations and institutions across the disciplines.


=== ''The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want'' (2006) ===
One of Strachan’s most iconic projects was, The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want, 2006, for which he embarked on a journey to the Alaskan Arctic to excavate a 4.5-ton block of ice which was then transported via FedEx to his native Bahamas and displayed in a solar-powered freezer in the courtyard of his childhood elementary school. The piece is both physically arresting and metaphorically resonant, referencing the fragility of Earth’s homeostatic systems, the strange poetry of cultural and physical displacement, as well as the little-known contributions of [[Matthew Henson]]—an under-recognized American explorer and the co-discoverer of the North Pole.
One of Strachan’s most iconic projects was ''The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want'' (2006), for which he embarked on a journey to the Alaskan Arctic to excavate a 2.5-ton block of ice which was then transported via [[FedEx]] to his native Bahamas and displayed in a solar-powered freezer in the courtyard of his childhood elementary school.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brooklyn Museum: Tavares Strachan: The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want (Arctic Ice Project)|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/arctic_ice_project|access-date=2021-10-03|website=www.brooklynmuseum.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-08|first=Louisa |last=Buck|title=Tavares Strachan: 'I grew up not feeling empowered by art'|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/09/08/tavares-strachan-i-grew-up-not-feeling-empowered-by-art|access-date=2021-10-03|website=The Art Newspaper}}</ref> The piece is both physically arresting and metaphorically resonant, referencing the fragility of Earth’s homeostatic systems, the strange poetry of cultural and physical displacement, as well as the little-known contributions of [[Matthew Henson]]—an under-recognized American explorer and the co-discoverer of the North Pole.


=== ''Orthostatic Tolerance'' series ===
In 2004, Strachan initiated an ambitious four-year multimedia body of work entitled Orthostatic Tolerance—the title referring to the physiological stress that cosmonauts endure while exiting and re-entering Earth from outer space. Exhibited in phases between 2008 and 2011, the Orthostatic Tolerance project incorporated photography, video, drawing, sculpture and installation documenting Strachan’s experience in cosmonaut training at the Yuri Gagarin Training Center in Star City, Russia and in experiments in space travel conducted in Nassau under the Bahamas Air and Space Exploration Center (BASEC)—the artist’s version of NASA for his native country.
In 2004, Strachan initiated an ambitious four-year multimedia series entitled, ''Orthostatic Tolerance''—the title referring to the physiological stress that cosmonauts endure while exiting and re-entering Earth from outer space.<ref name=":0" /> Exhibited in phases between 2008 and 2011, the ''Orthostatic Tolerance'' project incorporated photography, video, drawing, sculpture and installation documenting Strachan’s experience in cosmonaut training at the Yuri Gagarin Training Center in [[Star City, Russia]], and in experiments in space travel conducted in Nassau under the Bahamas Air and Space Exploration Center (BASEC)—the artist’s version of [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]] for his native country.


=== ''Seen/Unseen'' (2011) ===
In 2011, Strachan exhibited [http://seenunseen.com/ Seen/Unseen]—a survey exhibition of past and present works—at an undisclosed location in New York City that was deliberately closed to the general public. Exploring themes of presence and absence, the exhibition focused on the artist’s critical mandate of positioning works in such a way that some of their aspects are visible while others remain conceptual, asserting the exhibition itself is a work of art in its own right. Both ambitious in scope and disruptive to expectations, Seen/Unseen manifested a type of meditative experience, presenting over 50 works from drawings, photographs, video works, sculpture, and installations in a massive 20,000-square-foot industrial space converted specifically for the exhibition. While access to "Seen/Unseen" was restricted to the organizers, the exhibition itself was fully documented with a website and an illustrated catalogue designed by [[Stefan Sagmeister]].
In 2011, Strachan exhibited ''Seen/Unseen''—a survey exhibition of past and present works—at an undisclosed location in New York City that was deliberately closed to the general public. Exploring themes of presence and absence, the exhibition focused on the artist’s critical mandate of positioning works in such a way that some of their aspects are visible while others remain conceptual, asserting the exhibition itself is a work of art in its own right. Both ambitious in scope and disruptive to expectations, ''Seen/Unseen'' manifested a type of meditative experience, presenting over 50 works from drawings, photographs, video works, sculpture, and installations in a massive 20,000-square-foot industrial space converted specifically for the exhibition. While access to ''Seen/Unseen'' was restricted to the organizers, the exhibition itself was fully documented with a website and an illustrated catalogue designed by [[Stefan Sagmeister]].


=== ''ENOCH'' (2018) ===
On December 3, 2018, Strachan launched his project [https://www.lacma.org/lab/project/enoch ENOCH] into space. Created in collaboration with LACMA Art + Technology Lab, ENOCH is centered around the development and launch of a 3U satellite that brings to light the forgotten story of Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first African American astronaut selected for any national space program. The satellite launched via Spaceflight’s SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The sculpture will continue to circle the Earth for seven years in a sun-synchronous orbit.
On December 3, 2018, Strachan launched his project ENOCH into space.<ref>{{cite web | title=ENOCH | website=LACMA | date=2018-12-03 | url=http://www.lacma.org/lab/project/enoch | access-date=2022-02-03}}</ref> Created in collaboration with the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art|LACMA]] Art + Technology Lab, ENOCH is centered around the development and launch of a [[CubeSat|3U]] satellite that brings to light the forgotten story of [[Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.]], the first African American astronaut selected for any national space program.<ref name="zoel">{{Cite news |last=Lescaze |first=Zoë |date=2020-09-16 |title=The Artist Whose Medium Is Science |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/t-magazine/tavares-strachan.html |access-date=2022-05-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The satellite launched via [[Spaceflight, Inc.|Spaceflight]]’s SSO-A SmallSat Express mission from [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]] on a [[SpaceX]] [[Falcon 9]] rocket. The sculpture circled the Earth for three years in a [[Sun-synchronous orbit]] before reentering on December 21, 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=43777 |title=LACMA ENOCH |work=N2YO.com |date=21 December 2021 |access-date=28 December 2021}}</ref>


=== ''The First Supper (Galaxy Black)'' (2021–2023) ===
⚫
His recognition includes the 2018 Inaugural Allen Institute Artist in Residence,<ref>https://alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/frontiers-group/news-press/press-resources/press-releases/conceptual-artist-tavares-strachan-joins-allen-institute-first-artist-residence</ref> 2014 LACMA Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unframed.lacma.org/2014/04/09/announcing-art-technology-lab-artist-grant-awards|title=Announcing Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant Awards {{!}} Unframed|website=unframed.lacma.org|access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref> 2008 Tiffany Foundation Grant,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2018-frontier-art-prize-awarded-to-tavares-strachan-300730973.html|title=2018 Frontier Art Prize Awarded To Tavares Strachan|last=Forum|first=World Frontiers|website=www.prnewswire.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref> 2007 Grand Arts Residency Fellowship,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/tavares-strachan/biography|title=Tavares Strachan Biography – Tavares Strachan on artnet|website=www.artnet.com|access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref> and 2006 Alice B. Kimball Fellowship.{{cn|date=April 2019}} In 2013, he represented the Bahamas at the 55th International Venice Biennale.{{cn|date=April 2019}}
In February 2024, Strachan unveiled ''The First Supper'' ''(Galaxy Black)'' at the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] in London. The bronze sculpture, overlaid with black patina and gold leaf, reinterprets Da Vinci's ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'' with Black historical figures. [[Haile Selassie]] takes the place of Jesus, and Strachan takes the place of [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]]. The included figures are (from left to right): Tavares Strachan (self-portrait), [[Sister Rosetta Tharpe]], [[Harriet Tubman]], [[Shirley Chisholm]], [[Marcus Garvey]], [[Zumbi|Zumbi dos Palmares]], Haile Selassie, [[Mary Seacole]], [[Matthew Henson]], [[Marsha P. Johnson]], [[King Tubby]], [[Derek Walcott|Derek Alton Walcott]], and [[Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.|Robert Henry Lawrence]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sherwin |first=Skye |date=2023-12-26 |title=The Last Supper recast: artist Tavares Strachan on reimagining Da Vinci’s dinner guests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/dec/26/tavares-strachan |access-date=2024-02-02 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-30 |title=When Sister Rosetta met Marsha P. Johnson: public art piece in London reimagines Leonardo’s Last Supper |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/01/30/when-sister-rosetta-met-marsha-p-johnson-public-art-piece-in-london-reimagines-leonardos-last-supper |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Westall |first=Mark |date=2024-01-30 |title=Tavares Strachan's monumental sculpture unveiled in Royal Academy Courtyard. |url=https://fadmagazine.com/2024/01/30/tavares-strachans-monumental-sculpture-to-be-unveiled-in-royal-academy-courtyard/ |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=FAD Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The First Supper by Tavares Strachan |url=https://app.smartify.org/en-GB/tours/entangled-pasts?tourLanguage=en-GB |access-date=2024-02-04 |website=Royal Academy of Arts audio guide}}</ref>


===Marian Goodman and curation===
⚫
==References==
Strachan is represented by Marian Goodman since 2020, and in that same year, the Gallery's London space presented ''In Plain Sight'', the artist's first major UK solo show and in 2020, his ''The Awakening'' was presented at Goodman's Manhattan space.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tavares Strachan, IN PLAIN SIGHT |url=https://www.mariangoodman.com/exhibitions/416-tavares-strachan-in-plain-sight/ |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=Marian Goodman |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tavares Strachan, The Awakening |url=https://www.mariangoodman.com/exhibitions/tavares-strachan-the-awakening-new-york/ |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=Marian Goodman |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-03-11 |title=Marian Goodman Gallery Announced its Representation Tavares Strachan, Whose Practice Activates Art, Science, and Politics |language=en-US |url=https://www.culturetype.com/2020/03/11/marian-goodman-gallery-announced-its-representation-tavares-strachan-whose-practice-activates-art-science-and-politics/ |access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref>
{{reflist}}


Strachan curated a solo exhibition for his mentor [[Stanley Burnside]] in 2022. The exhibition, ''Stanley Burnside: As Time Goes On'', was presented at [[Galerie Perrotin]] in New York.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rappolt |first1=Mark |title=Stan Burnside and Tavares Strachan: 'We Get to Make Meaning' |url=https://artreview.com/stan-burnside-and-tavares-strachan-we-get-to-make-meaning/ |work=ArtReview |date=25 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==External links==
*[http://artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=45887#.UKg5ofZlQf4 Tavares Strachan's Notions of Absence and Presence, Visibility and Invisibility at Rossi & Rossi]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130529025428/http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/04/1685834/artist-installs-neon-sculpture.html “Artist Installs Neon Sculpture at Cary Academy.”]
*[http://venicebahamas2013.org/ Bahamas National Pavilion 55th Venice Biennale ]


== Awards and honors ==
⚫
{{authority control}}
⚫
His recognition includes a MacArthur Foundation Grant (2022),<ref name="NYT Mac">{{cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=Matt |title=MacArthur Foundation Announces 25 New 'Genius' Grant Winners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/arts/macarthur-foundation-genius-grant-winners.html|access-date=12 October 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=12 October 2022}}</ref> the Inaugural Allen Institute artist-in-residence (2018),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/frontiers-group/news-press/press-resources/press-releases/conceptual-artist-tavares-strachan-joins-allen-institute-first-artist-residence|title = Conceptual Artist Tavares Strachan Joins Allen Institute as First Artist-In-Residence|date = 20 March 2018}}</ref> LACMA Art + Technology Lab artist grant (2014),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unframed.lacma.org/2014/04/09/announcing-art-technology-lab-artist-grant-awards|title=Announcing Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant Awards {{!}} Unframed|website=unframed.lacma.org|date=9 April 2014 |access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref> Tiffany Foundation grant (2008),<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-26|title=In Plain Sight|url=https://kolajmagazine.com/content/content/collage-exhibitions/in-plain-sight/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Kolaj Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> Grand Arts Residency Fellowship (2007),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/tavares-strachan/biography|title=Tavares Strachan Biography – Tavares Strachan on artnet|website=www.artnet.com|access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref> and Alice B. Kimball fellowship (2006).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tavares STRACHAN - Artist - Perrotin |url=https://www.perrotin.com/artists/tavares_strachan/797 |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=www.perrotin.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2013, he represented the Bahamas at the [[55th Venice Biennale]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Tavares Strachan's 'In Plain Sight' - Criticism - art-agenda |language=en |url=https://www.art-agenda.com/criticism/349484/tavares-strachan-s-in-plain-sight |access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
*Maxwell Heller, [[Franklin Sirmans]], ''Tavares Strachan: Orthostatic Tolerance: It Might Not Be Such a Bad Idea if I Never Went Home'', MIT List Visual Arts Center, 2010.
*[[Robert Hobbs]], Stamatina Gregory, [[Christian Viveros-Fauné]], ''Tavares Strachan: I Belong Here'', Conceptio Unlimited Publication, 2013.
*Robert Hobbs, Gregory Volk, [[Mimi Sheller]], Franklin Sirmans, ''Tavares Strachan: Seen/Unseen'', ArtAsiaPacific, 2014.
*[[Adrian Searle]], ''Tavares Strachan: In Plain Sight'', Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, 2022.
*Pedro Alonzo, [[Gavin Delahunty]], Erin Jenoa Gilbert, [[Alysia Nicole Harris]], ''Tavares Strachan: The Awakening'', Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, 2024.
*Olivia Anani, Michele Robecchi, ''Tavares Strachan: In Total Darkness'', Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, 2024.
*[[Emmanuel Perrotin]], Romi Crawford, [[Nancy Spector]], [[Kaitlyn Greenidge]], ''Tavares Strachan: In Broad Daylight'', Perrotin/Isolated Publishing, 2024.

== See also ==
⚫
* [[List of Bahamian artists]]

⚫
==References==
{{Reflist}}

⚫
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Strachan, Tavares}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strachan, Tavares}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:1979 births]]
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[[Category:African-American artists]]
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[[Category:American artists]]
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[[Category:American people of Bahamian descent]]
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[[Category:Bahamian artists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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[[Category:21st-century African-American artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American sculptors]]
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[[Category:21st-century Bahamian people]]
[[Category:Artists from New York City]]
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[[Category:Bahamian artists]]
[[Category:Bahamian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Bahamian painters]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:People from Nassau, Bahamas]]
[[Category:People from Nassau, Bahamas]]
[[Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni]]
[[Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni]]
[[Category:University of the Bahamas alumni]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]

Latest revision as of 15:11, 11 October 2024

Tavares Strachan
Strachan in 2017
Born (1979-12-16) December 16, 1979 (age 44)
Nassau, Bahamas
EducationCollege of the Bahamas
Alma materRhode Island School of Design
Yale University
OccupationConceptual artist

Tavares Henderson Strachan (born 1979) is a Bahamian conceptual artist.[1] His contemporary multi-media installations investigate science, technology, mythology, history, and exploration.[2][3] He lives and works in New York City and Nassau, Bahamas.

Early life and education

[edit]

Strachan was born in Nassau, Bahamas, on December 16, 1979.[4] He was introduced to the arts as a child through his family’s involvement in Junkanoo, a historical annual parade and cultural celebration incorporating live music, dance, and elaborate costumes hand-made by competing groups.[5]

Initially a painter, Strachan earned his Associate of Fine Arts degree from the College of the Bahamas in 1999. In 2000, he moved to the United States to enroll in the glass department at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he began to pursue more conceptual projects that would foreground the prevalent themes and minimalist aesthetic of his later work. After completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003,[6] Strachan went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Yale University in 2006.[4]

Work

[edit]

Strachan’s ambitious and open-ended practice examines the intersection of art, science, and the environment,[7] and has included collaborations with numerous organizations and institutions across the disciplines.

The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want (2006)

[edit]

One of Strachan’s most iconic projects was The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want (2006), for which he embarked on a journey to the Alaskan Arctic to excavate a 2.5-ton block of ice which was then transported via FedEx to his native Bahamas and displayed in a solar-powered freezer in the courtyard of his childhood elementary school.[8][9] The piece is both physically arresting and metaphorically resonant, referencing the fragility of Earth’s homeostatic systems, the strange poetry of cultural and physical displacement, as well as the little-known contributions of Matthew Henson—an under-recognized American explorer and the co-discoverer of the North Pole.

Orthostatic Tolerance series

[edit]

In 2004, Strachan initiated an ambitious four-year multimedia series entitled, Orthostatic Tolerance—the title referring to the physiological stress that cosmonauts endure while exiting and re-entering Earth from outer space.[4] Exhibited in phases between 2008 and 2011, the Orthostatic Tolerance project incorporated photography, video, drawing, sculpture and installation documenting Strachan’s experience in cosmonaut training at the Yuri Gagarin Training Center in Star City, Russia, and in experiments in space travel conducted in Nassau under the Bahamas Air and Space Exploration Center (BASEC)—the artist’s version of NASA for his native country.

Seen/Unseen (2011)

[edit]

In 2011, Strachan exhibited Seen/Unseen—a survey exhibition of past and present works—at an undisclosed location in New York City that was deliberately closed to the general public. Exploring themes of presence and absence, the exhibition focused on the artist’s critical mandate of positioning works in such a way that some of their aspects are visible while others remain conceptual, asserting the exhibition itself is a work of art in its own right. Both ambitious in scope and disruptive to expectations, Seen/Unseen manifested a type of meditative experience, presenting over 50 works from drawings, photographs, video works, sculpture, and installations in a massive 20,000-square-foot industrial space converted specifically for the exhibition. While access to Seen/Unseen was restricted to the organizers, the exhibition itself was fully documented with a website and an illustrated catalogue designed by Stefan Sagmeister.

ENOCH (2018)

[edit]

On December 3, 2018, Strachan launched his project ENOCH into space.[10] Created in collaboration with the LACMA Art + Technology Lab, ENOCH is centered around the development and launch of a 3U satellite that brings to light the forgotten story of Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first African American astronaut selected for any national space program.[11] The satellite launched via Spaceflight’s SSO-A SmallSat Express mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The sculpture circled the Earth for three years in a Sun-synchronous orbit before reentering on December 21, 2021.[12]

The First Supper (Galaxy Black) (2021–2023)

[edit]

In February 2024, Strachan unveiled The First Supper (Galaxy Black) at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The bronze sculpture, overlaid with black patina and gold leaf, reinterprets Da Vinci's The Last Supper with Black historical figures. Haile Selassie takes the place of Jesus, and Strachan takes the place of Judas. The included figures are (from left to right): Tavares Strachan (self-portrait), Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Harriet Tubman, Shirley Chisholm, Marcus Garvey, Zumbi dos Palmares, Haile Selassie, Mary Seacole, Matthew Henson, Marsha P. Johnson, King Tubby, Derek Alton Walcott, and Robert Henry Lawrence.[13][14][15][16]

Marian Goodman and curation

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Strachan is represented by Marian Goodman since 2020, and in that same year, the Gallery's London space presented In Plain Sight, the artist's first major UK solo show and in 2020, his The Awakening was presented at Goodman's Manhattan space.[17][18][19]

Strachan curated a solo exhibition for his mentor Stanley Burnside in 2022. The exhibition, Stanley Burnside: As Time Goes On, was presented at Galerie Perrotin in New York.[20]

Awards and honors

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His recognition includes a MacArthur Foundation Grant (2022),[21] the Inaugural Allen Institute artist-in-residence (2018),[22] LACMA Art + Technology Lab artist grant (2014),[23] Tiffany Foundation grant (2008),[24] Grand Arts Residency Fellowship (2007),[25] and Alice B. Kimball fellowship (2006).[26] In 2013, he represented the Bahamas at the 55th Venice Biennale.[5][27]

Bibliography

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  • Maxwell Heller, Franklin Sirmans, Tavares Strachan: Orthostatic Tolerance: It Might Not Be Such a Bad Idea if I Never Went Home, MIT List Visual Arts Center, 2010.
  • Robert Hobbs, Stamatina Gregory, Christian Viveros-Fauné, Tavares Strachan: I Belong Here, Conceptio Unlimited Publication, 2013.
  • Robert Hobbs, Gregory Volk, Mimi Sheller, Franklin Sirmans, Tavares Strachan: Seen/Unseen, ArtAsiaPacific, 2014.
  • Adrian Searle, Tavares Strachan: In Plain Sight, Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, 2022.
  • Pedro Alonzo, Gavin Delahunty, Erin Jenoa Gilbert, Alysia Nicole Harris, Tavares Strachan: The Awakening, Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, 2024.
  • Olivia Anani, Michele Robecchi, Tavares Strachan: In Total Darkness, Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, 2024.
  • Emmanuel Perrotin, Romi Crawford, Nancy Spector, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Tavares Strachan: In Broad Daylight, Perrotin/Isolated Publishing, 2024.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Rodney, Seph (2021-09-29). "Pulling the Caribbean into Conceptual Focus". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  2. ^ Williams, Gilda (December 2020). "Tavares Strachan". Artforum.com. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  3. ^ Lescaze, Zoë (2020-09-16). "The Artist Whose Medium Is Science". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  4. ^ a b c Tolia-Kelly, Divya P. (2016-02-11). Visuality/Materiality: Images, Objects and Practices. Routledge. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-317-00112-6.
  5. ^ a b "Top Ten: Tavares Strachan". Artforum.com. March 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  6. ^ "Conrad Shawcross and Tavares Strachan' Embrace the Spirit of Exploration at the RISD Museum". Gulf Daily Magazine. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  7. ^ "In Plain Sight review – Tavares Strachan's baffling, thrilling, uplifting visions". the Guardian. 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  8. ^ "Brooklyn Museum: Tavares Strachan: The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want (Arctic Ice Project)". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  9. ^ Buck, Louisa (2020-09-08). "Tavares Strachan: 'I grew up not feeling empowered by art'". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  10. ^ "ENOCH". LACMA. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  11. ^ Lescaze, Zoë (2020-09-16). "The Artist Whose Medium Is Science". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  12. ^ "LACMA ENOCH". N2YO.com. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  13. ^ Sherwin, Skye (2023-12-26). "The Last Supper recast: artist Tavares Strachan on reimagining Da Vinci's dinner guests". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  14. ^ "When Sister Rosetta met Marsha P. Johnson: public art piece in London reimagines Leonardo's Last Supper". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 2024-01-30. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  15. ^ Westall, Mark (2024-01-30). "Tavares Strachan's monumental sculpture unveiled in Royal Academy Courtyard". FAD Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  16. ^ "The First Supper by Tavares Strachan". Royal Academy of Arts audio guide. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  17. ^ "Tavares Strachan, IN PLAIN SIGHT". Marian Goodman. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  18. ^ "Tavares Strachan, The Awakening". Marian Goodman. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  19. ^ "Marian Goodman Gallery Announced its Representation Tavares Strachan, Whose Practice Activates Art, Science, and Politics". 2020-03-11. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  20. ^ Rappolt, Mark (25 November 2022). "Stan Burnside and Tavares Strachan: 'We Get to Make Meaning'". ArtReview.
  21. ^ Stevens, Matt (12 October 2022). "MacArthur Foundation Announces 25 New 'Genius' Grant Winners". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  22. ^ "Conceptual Artist Tavares Strachan Joins Allen Institute as First Artist-In-Residence". 20 March 2018.
  23. ^ "Announcing Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant Awards | Unframed". unframed.lacma.org. 9 April 2014. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  24. ^ "In Plain Sight". Kolaj Magazine. 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  25. ^ "Tavares Strachan Biography – Tavares Strachan on artnet". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  26. ^ "Tavares STRACHAN - Artist - Perrotin". www.perrotin.com. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  27. ^ "Tavares Strachan's 'In Plain Sight' - Criticism - art-agenda". Retrieved 2022-05-11.
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