Tavares Strachan
(b. 1979)Activating connections between art, science, and history, Tavares Strachan’s practice investigates topics such as astronomy and climatology to convey stories of cultural displacement, societal change, and lost histories.
Biography
Tavares Strachan grew up in Nassau, Bahamas, where he sought escapes—such as gardening and fishing—from the drug-related violence taking place in his neighborhood. As he decided to seek a career as an artist, he reckoned with his inability to trace his ancestry back more than a few generations and began to think of his artistic practice as a means of reorienting, redefining, and rediscovering himself. As such, his practice involves a multidisciplinary, open-ended, cross-cultural approach to artmaking that is both deeply personal and yet speaks to a wide range of audiences.
Activating connections between art, science, and history, Strachan’s practice investigates topics such as astronomy and climatology to convey stories of cultural displacement, societal change, and lost histories. Through projects centered around aeronautics and deep-sea exploration, he demonstrates that science is both a subject and medium: it is not an objective discipline, but rather an interpretative practice that lives within larger systems of oppression and control. By utilizing science and medicine—traditional avenues for immigrants and marginalized people to gain power and status in the western world—he introduces a new definition for success, one that was not apparent during his own childhood. To that end, in 2008, Strachan established the Bahamas Air and Sea Exploration Center, a community organization focused on connecting children to visiting artists and scientists through experiments and research. His work is rooted in his experience of growing up in the Bahamas, articulates new spaces of scientific and artistic discovery, and functions as a concentrated effort to build community.
Strachan earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Yale University. He is the recipient of numerous awards including LACMA Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant (2014) and Frontier Art Prize (2018); he was also an artist in residence at the Getty Research Institute (2019–20). The Studio Museum has presented his work in exhibitions such as The Production of Space (2010) and Body Language (2013).
Exhibitions and Events
Tavares Strachan
(b. 1979)Activating connections between art, science, and history, Tavares Strachan’s practice investigates topics such as astronomy and climatology to convey stories of cultural displacement, societal change, and lost histories.
Biography
Tavares Strachan grew up in Nassau, Bahamas, where he sought escapes—such as gardening and fishing—from the drug-related violence taking place in his neighborhood. As he decided to seek a career as an artist, he reckoned with his inability to trace his ancestry back more than a few generations and began to think of his artistic practice as a means of reorienting, redefining, and rediscovering himself. As such, his practice involves a multidisciplinary, open-ended, cross-cultural approach to artmaking that is both deeply personal and yet speaks to a wide range of audiences.
Activating connections between art, science, and history, Strachan’s practice investigates topics such as astronomy and climatology to convey stories of cultural displacement, societal change, and lost histories. Through projects centered around aeronautics and deep-sea exploration, he demonstrates that science is both a subject and medium: it is not an objective discipline, but rather an interpretative practice that lives within larger systems of oppression and control. By utilizing science and medicine—traditional avenues for immigrants and marginalized people to gain power and status in the western world—he introduces a new definition for success, one that was not apparent during his own childhood. To that end, in 2008, Strachan established the Bahamas Air and Sea Exploration Center, a community organization focused on connecting children to visiting artists and scientists through experiments and research. His work is rooted in his experience of growing up in the Bahamas, articulates new spaces of scientific and artistic discovery, and functions as a concentrated effort to build community.
Strachan earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Yale University. He is the recipient of numerous awards including LACMA Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant (2014) and Frontier Art Prize (2018); he was also an artist in residence at the Getty Research Institute (2019–20). The Studio Museum has presented his work in exhibitions such as The Production of Space (2010) and Body Language (2013).
Exhibitions and Events