Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere

The Hayward Gallery presents Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere, the first mid-career survey of the New York-based Bahamian artist. A recipient of the MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’, Strachan has created a range of boldly inventive and ambitious exhibitions over the past two decades, including presentations at the 2019 Venice Biennale and the 2018 Carnegie International, establishing him as one of the most compelling, imaginative and audacious artists of his generation. Whether making expeditions to the Arctic and sending back a 4.5-ton block of ice to his birthplace in the Bahamas, launching into orbit a gold sculpture of the first Black American in the US space programme, or creating his own alternative 3,000-page encyclopaedia, Strachan has worked to expand the boundaries of contemporary art with the imaginative verve of a true pioneer.

This multifaceted exhibition showcases the ways in which Strachan’s art vividly highlights key questions of cultural visibility. Dedicated to telling ‘lost stories’, Strachan celebrates unsung explorers and neglected cultural trailblazers, inviting audiences to engage with overlooked characters whose lives illuminate histories hidden by bias.