Tavares Strachan
Words matter. Take Tavares Strachan’s simple declarative sentence “We Are In This Together.” The phrase, whether affirmed in conversation or installed in 12-foot pink neon letters on the side of a mountain, can unite or separate. On the one hand, the phrase communicates the idea of agreement, consensus, and unanimity. On the other, saying it or writing it carries an implicit question the artist suggests could also signify that there’s “much work to be done.”
A literal mountain of message, Strachan’s text has taken on several sculptural forms, three of which are presented here in shades of blue, green, yellow, and pink neon. But Strachan’s most dramatic sculptural version is currently installed on National Forest Service land between the Colorado ski resort towns of Mountain Village and Telluride. Visible from the gondolas that ferry riders over the mountains, the artist’s words provide a “prompt” for viewers to consider issues of social justice as they take on the vastness of the American landscape. Inscribed on the land itself, the letters that make up the site-specific installation acquire prodigious dimensions, turning the interpretation, ethos, and empathy (or lack thereof) of each person seeing it equally monumental.
— CVF, USFCAM
“We Are In This Together is a challenge for me. If you need to say these kinds of things, then it probably means that we're not in this together, and there's so much work to be done.
“One of the great strengths of the human spirit is the desire to find sameness. There's so much done around how we're different, but I was always curious about how we’re the same. How do we get under the skin and move the needle of culture? How do we really bring about awareness to specific issues and injustices? What is the value of an archive? How do we tell really complex stories to future generations? On the basis of observable patterns, how can we learn from what we're experiencing?
“How do we stay connected? How can we remain curious about deep and complex questions? Where is humanity going? These are all of the things that I'm struggling with in this project.”
— Tavares Strachan
Artist Tavares Strachan. Photo by Brooke DiDonato.
About Tavares Strachan
(Nassau, Bahamas, 1979)
He lives and works in NYC and Nassau.
Tavares Strachan’s artistic practice activates the intersections of art, science, and politics, offering uniquely synthesized points of view on the cultural dynamics of scientific knowledge. Aeronautics, astronomy, deep-sea exploration, and extreme climatology are just some of the thematic areas from which he creates monumental allegories that relay stories of cultural displacement, human aspiration, and mortal limitation. Strachan’s work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions including You Belong Here, Prospect 3. Biennial (New Orleans, LA); The Immeasurable Daydream, Biennale de Lyon (Lyon, France); Polar Eclipse, The Bahamas National Pavilion 55th Venice Biennale (Venice, Italy); Seen/Unseen, Undisclosed Exhibition (New York); and Orthostatic Tolerance: It Might Not Be Such a Bad Idea if I Never Went Home Again, MIT List Visual Arts Center (Cambridge, MA). He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Artist in Residence at the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles, CA), the Frontier Art Prize, the Allen Institute’s inaugural Artist in Residence, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Art + Technology Lab Artist Grant, the Tiffany Foundation Grant, the Grand Arts Residency Fellowship, and the Alice B. Kimball Fellowship.
Artist studio website: isolatedlabs.com
Gallery website: mariangoodman.com
Artist Instagram: @tavaresstrachan