Simon Tatum

Simon Tatum’s creative practice investigates the material and psychological legacies of what he describes as “colonial debris,” through a multidisciplinary approach encompassing drawing, sculpture, and installation.

SIMON TATUM'S EMERGING VOICE

As an artist from the Cayman Islands, Tatum's work filters the complex histories of the Caribbean through diverse references—ranging from 1960s Grand Cayman tourist ephemera and thrifted American chinaware to satirical film characters and video recordings of public infrastructure. Tatum’s work often negotiates the tension between his familial memory and the broader post-colonial developments of the Caribbean.

EDUCATION AND EXHIBITIONS

Simon Tatum is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He earned a BA in Art from the University of Missouri in 2017, followed by an MFA in Sculpture and Expanded Media from Kent State University in 2021. His thesis exhibition, Romantic Caribbean, was shown at the CVA Gallery of Kent State University in March 2021.

Tatum has participated in several notable group exhibitions, including Arrivants: Art and Migration in the Anglophone Caribbean World at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society (2018). In 2022, he joined the Alice Yard contingent at Documenta 15 in Kassel, Germany, presenting posters from his series See Your Travel Agent.

Simon currently lives in New Brunswick, NJ, where he continues his artistic practice and works for Vanderbilt University.