Tau Lewis facts for kids

Tau Lewis (born 1993 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Jamaican-Canadian artist working in a variety of mediums including hand-sewn, carved, and assemblage pieces.

Artistic practice

Lewis's practice works with found materials, including seashells and fabric scraps. Much of her work focuses on the experiences of the African diasporic community. She uses recycling because it is circular and has roots in her ancestry. Lewis's earlier work used materials such as “wood, scrap metal, cement, wire, plaster, stones, paint cans, chains and rebar, her latest work relaxes further into fabric.” Using the globally sourced materials she creates a sense of community and ancestry in the work. Lewis's use of reclaimed scraps and materials connects with histories of resourcefulness and is environmentally conscious, which she tries to keep in their found states.

In 2018, Lewis was awarded the Frieze Frame Stand Prize for her solo presentation with Cooper Cole Gallery at Frieze New York City, USA.

Tau Lewis is represented by Night Gallery, Los Angeles, and Stephen Freidman Gallery, London, UK.

Selected Works

the sighting of the last shadow dweller (original sea kin) (2018)

Lewis's twelve-foot-long quilt consists of hand-stitched materials including leather and reclaimed fabric. The materials are stitched together irregularly with no uniform shape or pattern, with the blue color and natural form creating an "apparent visual reference to water and aquatic systems."

T.A.U.B.I.S. (2020)

Part of a 2020 exhibition at Toronto art gallery Cooper Cole, Lewis's use of "hand-sewn sculptural textiles reflect on non-gendered motherhood and gardens as sources of knowledge and growth." This work is part of Lewis's ongoing use of upcycled and reclaimed household textiles for sculptural production, created with a range of materials from recycled and hand dyed fabrics, recycled leather, cotton batting, beads, acrylic paint, PVA, glue, metal hoop skirt, and pipes, to sea shells.

Mater Dei (2022)

This sculptural work was created for Vox Populi, Vox Dei, a 2022 exhibition at New York gallery 52 Walker. The work's title, translating to "mother of god," connects to the exhibition's goal of creating a space for contemplation and exploration of spirituality. This mask alongside its five other co-displayed pieces are based on Yoruba religious masks.

Public Collections

All collection information found on Tau Lewis' official website

• Grinnell College Museum of Art, Grinnell, IA
• Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
• Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Miami, FL
• The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, QC, Canada
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art Library Collection, New York, NY
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA
• Library and Achieves Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Exhibitions

In 2018, Lewis had her first institutional solo exhibition in Canada in the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. In 2021 Lewis' sculpture "Symphony" was exhibited in the Rotunda of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa as part of its Contemporary Projects series.

All exhibitions taken from Lewis' official website.

Solo & Duo Exhibitions

• 2016 - foraged, ain't free, The Pendulum Project, 223a, Toronto, ON, Canada

• 2017 -cyphers, tissue, blizzards, exile, 8-11 Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2017 - Through the people we are looking at ourselves, Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON, Canada (two person)
• 2018 - Tau Lewis, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA
• 2018 - making it work to be together while we can, Jeffery Stark, New York, NY
• 2018 - Cheyenne Julien and Tau Lewis, Chapter NY, New York, NY (two person)
• 2018 - when you last found me here, The Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, ON, Canada
• 2018 - I bet this cave has been here for a really long time, Shoot the Lobster, New York, NY
• 2019 - I heard a heartbeat down in the black hole, Cordova, Barcelona, Spain, (two person)
• 2019 - I'm countin on you to ground me again, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• 2019 - when you last found me here, Kenderine Art Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada
• 2019 - The Coral Reef Preservation Society, Yorkshire Sculpture International at The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire, UK
• 2020 - Sparkle's Map Home, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, ON, Canada
• 2020 - Triumphant Alliance of the Ubiquitous Blossoms of Incarnate Souls, Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2021 - Symphony, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
• 2022 - Vox Populi, Vox Dei, 52 Walker, New York, NY
• 2023 - Tau Lewis, Institute of Contemporary Art Miami (ICA Miami), Miami, FL

Awards

• 2017 - The Hynatyshyn Foundation's William and Meredith Saunderson Prize for Emerging Artists
• 2018 - Frieze Frame Stand Prize, Cooper Cole solo presentation, Frieze, New York
• 2023 - Ezratti Family Prize for Sculpture, Institute of Contemporary Art Miami (ICA Miami), Miami, FL

All awards taken from Tau Lewis' official website.