Tavares Strachan#ENOCH (2018)

{{Infobox person

| name = Tavares Strachan

| image = Does Technology Need The Arts To Build A Better Future?, Tavares Strachan.jpg

| 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
Yale University

| occupation = Conceptual artist

}}

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

Early life and education

Strachan was born in Nassau, Bahamas, on December 16, 1979.{{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}} 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.{{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}}

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,{{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}} Strachan went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Yale University in 2006.

Work

Strachan’s ambitious and open-ended practice examines the intersection of art, science, and the environment,{{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}} 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 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.{{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}}{{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}} 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 series 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.

= ''Seen/Unseen'' (2011) =

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 ENOCH into space.{{cite web | title=ENOCH | website=LACMA | date=2018-12-03 | url=http://www.lacma.org/lab/project/enoch | access-date=2022-02-03}} 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.{{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}} 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.{{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}}

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

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.{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}

=Marian Goodman and curation=

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.{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}

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.{{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}}

Awards and honors

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

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, Cambridge, MA, 2010.
Robert Hobbs, Stamatina Gregory, Christian Viveros-Fauné, Tavares Strachan: I Belong Here, Conceptio Unlimited Publication, New York, 2013.
Robert Hobbs, Gregory Volk, Mimi Sheller, Franklin Sirmans, Tavares Strachan: Seen/Unseen, ArtAsiaPacific, New York, 2014.
Adrian Searle, Tavares Strachan: In Plain Sight, Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, New york, 2022.
Pedro Alonzo, Gavin Delahunty, Erin Jenoa Gilbert, Alysia Nicole Harris, Tavares Strachan: The Awakening, Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, New York, 2024.
Olivia Anani, Michele Robecchi, Tavares Strachan: In Total Darkness, Marian Goodman Gallery/Isolated Publishing, New york, 2024.
Emmanuel Perrotin, Romi Crawford, Nancy Spector, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Tavares Strachan: In Broad Daylight, Perrotin/Isolated Publishing, New York, 2024.
Ralph Rugoff, Maggie M. Chao, Ekow Eshun, Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere, Hayward Gallery Publishing, London, 2024.