The Hayward Gallery presents Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere, the first mid-career survey dedicated to the artist's work. 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 program; or creating his own alternative 3,000-page encyclopedia, 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. Featuring monumental new sculptural commissions alongside striking large-scale collages, neon works, bronze and ceramic sculptures, and mixed-media installations, Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere takes visitors on a journey of discovery and recovery that is simultaneously playful and impactful. Strachan’s vividly realised stories of erasure and remembrance shine a light not only on histories of colonialism and racism, but also on how the past impacts the universal desire for a sense of belonging.

Tavares Strachan says: “My practice as an artist is a quest to reveal hidden histories and to tell lost stories with a weight that matches the profound nature of the characters I speak for. I have always thought about making as a form of storytelling, a way for us to engage in things that might be more difficult to grasp during the normal course of our day.”

Ralph Rugoff, Director of the Hayward Gallery, says: “There Is Light Somewhere takes visitors on a thrilling and deeply felt journey of discovery and recovery. Referencing numerous histories, people, objects and belief systems that lie outside the often narrow parameters of Western contemporary art, Tavares’ exhibition offers revelatory lessons that profoundly shift our view of the world. Through surprising juxtapositions, stirring memorials, and inventive homages, his work extends an invitation to dig deeper and explore what lies beyond what we already know.”