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Tavares Strachan: Between You and Me

Art Exhibition Other Arts and Culture Museum Exhibit

What’s Happening?

Tavares Strachan’s artworks intentionally defy categorization.  

Spanning sculpture, performance, painting, ceramics, and immersive installations, Strachan’s work explores themes of cultural displacement, migration, and human aspiration by uplifting often hidden histories. 

At the Blanton, Strachan transforms the Contemporary Project gallery into a waist-high ‘meadow’ of dried rice grass. Viewed from above, the terrain shapes the form of a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol. Here, Strachan uses the Andikra symbol Mmere Dane, or “time changes,” which articulates the spiritual and philosophical concept of impermanence. At the center of the rice meadow sits a large-scale ceramic sculpture.  

Much of Strachan’s practice is connected to an ongoing research project, The Encyclopedia of Invisibility. This over 3,000-page opus documents people, events, and ideas that didn’t typically make it into mainstream encyclopedias. A version of the Encyclopedia will be on view in the exhibition.  

In addition to the room-sized installation, three sculptures from Strachan’s Black Madonna series will be on view in the Blanton’s European art galleries.

These sculptures are based on a common iconography in Christian art known as the Pietà, in which Mary holds the dead body of her son Jesus. Strachan’s sculptures depict important Black man from history who were violently quieted, held by their mothers. Here, he shifts the poignant poses and figures away from a religious framework and towards a narrative of maternal and community loss.  

Image credit: Tavares Strachen, Encyclopedia of Invisibility (Pocket Guide), 2024, Leather, gilding, archival paper, lucite box and stand, Overall: 9 1/4 x 12 1/8 x 10 in. (23.5 x 30.8 x 25.4 cm), Edition of 250. Courtesy of the Artist and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Elon Schoenolz.

FREE for Blanton Members

Tavares Strachan’s artworks intentionally defy categorization.  

Spanning sculpture, performance, painting, ceramics, and immersive installations, Strachan’s work explores themes of cultural displacement, migration, and human aspiration by uplifting often hidden histories. 

At the Blanton, Strachan transforms the Contemporary Project gallery into a waist-high ‘meadow’ of dried rice grass. Viewed from above, the terrain shapes the form of a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol. Here, Strachan uses the Andikra symbol Mmere Dane, or “time changes,” which articulates the spiritual and philosophical concept of impermanence. At the center of the rice meadow sits a large-scale ceramic sculpture.  

Much of Strachan’s practice is connected to an ongoing research project, The Encyclopedia of Invisibility. This over 3,000-page opus documents people, events, and ideas that didn’t typically make it into mainstream encyclopedias. A version of the Encyclopedia will be on view in the exhibition.  

In addition to the room-sized installation, three sculptures from Strachan’s Black Madonna series will be on view in the Blanton’s European art galleries.

These sculptures are based on a common iconography in Christian art known as the Pietà, in which Mary holds the dead body of her son Jesus. Strachan’s sculptures depict important Black man from history who were violently quieted, held by their mothers. Here, he shifts the poignant poses and figures away from a religious framework and towards a narrative of maternal and community loss.  

Image credit: Tavares Strachen, Encyclopedia of Invisibility (Pocket Guide), 2024, Leather, gilding, archival paper, lucite box and stand, Overall: 9 1/4 x 12 1/8 x 10 in. (23.5 x 30.8 x 25.4 cm), Edition of 250. Courtesy of the Artist and Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo by Elon Schoenolz.

FREE for Blanton Members

More about Blanton Museum of Art
Founded in 1963, the Blanton Museum of Art holds the largest public collection in Central Texas with more than 21,000 objects. The home of Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin, its major collecting areas are modern and contemporary American and Latin American art, Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, and prints and drawings. The Blanton offers thought-provoking, visually arresting, and personally moving encounters with art.
When & Where
From Nov 9, 2024 to Jun 1, 2025
Tue: 10:00am - 5:00pm Timezone: CST
Wed: 10:00am - 5:00pm Timezone: CST
Thu: 10:00am - 5:00pm Timezone: CST
Fri: 10:00am - 5:00pm Timezone: CST
Sat: 10:00am - 8:00pm Timezone: CST
Sun: 10:00am - 5:00pm Timezone: CST
$15.00


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