Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere

Fabulous exhibition at the Hayward Gallery of work by Tavares Strachan over the last two decades.

Strachan’s work poses questions about who is seen and unseen and tries to rediscover forgotten black figures in history. He does this in a beautiful and layered way producing exquisite objects as well as making you look at history in a different way.

I loved his ceramic pieces combining transitional shaped pots with the faces of historical figures in some instances combining two by splitting the older head to show a more contemporary one underneath such as this one of the Roman emperor Septimus Severus and Steve Biko.

There were some interesting pieces around Matthew Henson who was possibly the first man to reach the North Pole and Robert Henry Lawrence Jnr, a black trainee astronaut who died while training. In both cases Strachan replicated their experiences visiting the North Pole and undertaking cosmonaut training.

My favourite pieces were the giant heads particularly this one of King Tubby, the Jamaican sound engineer Osbourne Ruddock, which just looks straight at you as you enter the room. The ship on the roof was good too!    

Closed 1 September 2024


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