Artist Tavares Strachan to Launch 2024-25 Oxy Live! Season

Strachan will speak about his award-winning work, including his sculpture "The Encyclopedia of Invisibility," which features thousands of entries focused on historically marginalized individuals. The sculpture will be on display at OXY ARTS as part of the gallery's collaboration with Getty's PST ART: Art and Science Collide, Southern California's landmark arts event. Free tickets for Strachan's Oxy Live! conversation are available on the Oxy Live! website.

Strachan was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and splits his time between Nassau and New York City. He received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in sculpture from Yale University, and he has exhibited his work internationally. His numerous awards include a 2022 "genius" fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation.

Beginning Sept. 17, Strachan's sculpture will be part of OXY ARTS' PST ART exhibition Invisibility: Powers and Perils, which highlights the work of artists and scientists striving to render visible the people, histories, and planetary conditions that have been erased within the cultural mainstream. The exhibition will run until Feb. 22, 2025.

Oxy Live! is Occidental's flagship event series, open to the public and showcasing a diverse lineup of cultural luminaries at the forefront of their fields. Each thought-provoking speaker's event is hosted by acclaimed interviewer and cultural interlocutor Paul Holdengräber, the founder and director of The New York Public Library's Live from the NYPL cultural series. In addition to Strachan, this year's series includes journalist and podcast host V Spehar, visual artist Ed Ruscha, boundary-breaking artist Miranda July, and theoretical physicist and writer Kip Thorne.

Oxy Live! is made possible by a generous gift from Occidental College trustee and alumna Lisa Coscino '85 and ongoing support from the College's Class of 1974. Previous speakers have included artist and activist ALOK, writer Rebecca Solnit, visual artist Julie Mehretu, and artist Laurie Anderson.