In ‘Spirit Level,’ Tau Lewis’s Monumental Figures Usher in an Unearthly World
Installation view of ‘Tau Lewis: Spirit Level’ (2024) at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Photo by Mel Taing. All images courtesy of ICA Boston, shared with permission
In ‘Spirit Level,’ Tau Lewis’s Monumental Figures Usher in an Unearthly World
September 6, 2024
Art
Grace Ebert
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At the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Tau Lewis (previously) presents a vast cosmology in which monumental, mythic beings herald in a new world. Five figures stand nearly 11 feet tall in draping garments, their hands positioned in distinctive gestures. With titles like “The Doula” and “The Reaper,” each bears a particular role as they loom over a large circular quilt at the center of the gallery floor.
From found fabrics and objects, Lewis created the towering sculptures for Spirit Level, her first solo museum show in the U.S. The Toronto-born artist maintains a robust collection of materials in her Brooklyn studio, which she painstakingly stitches and sculpts into unearthly beings. These works continue her interest in how objects hold meaning and memory.
“Mutasis Moon” (2021), recycled leather, seashells, sand dollars, acrylic paint, PVC pipe, galvanized steel, muslin, and recycled poly fibers, 40 x 40 x 25 inches. Photo by Pierre Le Hors, courtesy of the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London, © Tau Lewis
Her 2021 figure “Mutasis Moon,” for example, is an alien-like creature with four eyes and turquoise hands. Wrapped around a galvanized steel and PVC armature, the friendly painted-leather figure stands with arms outstretched as if welcoming the viewer.
In Spirit Level, remnants of clothing, muslin scraps dyed with rust, snakeskin, conch shells, and coral bone merge, transposing the materials’ origins into new contexts. “The Doula,” for instance, wears a dark green, blue, and brown gown of leather and suede and is what the artist calls a “portrait of the sea.” Conjuring the dark depths of the ocean, the sculpture alludes to a space where life and death coexist.
The gold-outfitted figure is titled “The Handle of the Axe,” which references the epigraph of Alice Walker’s 1992 novel Possessing the Secret of Joy that states: “When the axe came into the forest, the trees said, ‘the handle is one of us.’” Arms open for an embrace, the sculpture draws on the tensions between the desire for nonviolence and the struggle for liberation.
At the center of the figures is “The Last Transmission,” the sprawling quilt that radiates outward from a starfish at the center. Small fabric panels adorned with glass, beads, and wire form an elaborate patchwork, appearing as an architectural portal to another universe.
Spirit Level is on view in Boston through January 20, 2025, after which it will travel to David Zwirner in Los Angeles. Find more from the artist on her website and Instagram.
Installation view of ‘Tau Lewis: Spirit Level’ (2024) at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Photo by Mel Taing
“Harmony” (2019), recycled leather, recycled poly fibers, rebar, wire, hardware, seashells, stones, and acrylic paint, 39 3/4 x 47 x 35 inches. Image © Tau Lewis
“Knot of Pacification” (2021), recycled leather, wool, and suede, 114 x 100 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery, Los Angeles, © Tau Lewis
Installation view of ‘Tau Lewis: Spirit Level’ (2024) at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Photo by Mel Taing
Installation view of “The Last Transmission” (2024), recycled leather and suede, cotton canvas, acrylic paint and finisher, natural dyes, assorted found metal, wood, ceramic, and glass objects, wire, beads, seashells, coated nylon thread, and coated cotton thread, overall diameter approximately 240 inches. Photo by Mel Taing
Detail of “Mutasis Moon” (2021), recycled leather, seashells, sand dollars, acrylic paint, PVC pipe, galvanized steel, muslin, and recycled poly fibers, 40 x 40 x 25 inches. Photo by Pierre Le Hors, courtesy of the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London, © Tau Lewis
“Venus in Leo” (2023), steel, wood, enamel paint, acrylic paint, leather dye and finisher, recycled leather and suede, recycled fabric, found jewelry, clam shells, and coated nylon thread, 68 x 18 x 18 inches. Photo by Charles Benton, courtesy of the artist, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, and JTT, New York, © Tau Lewis
Detail of “Venus in Leo” (2023), steel, wood, enamel paint, acrylic paint, leather dye and finisher, recycled leather and suede, recycled fabric, found jewelry, clam shells, and coated nylon thread, 68 x 18 x 18 inches. Photo by Charles Benton, courtesy of the artist, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, and JTT, New York, © Tau Lewis
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