Stratagems
Tara Donovan
Launching with San Francisco Art Week 2026 (January 17-25, 2026), ICA SF is partnering with SHVO at Transamerica Pyramid Center as part of the Pyramid Arts initiative to present large-scale Stratagem sculptures by Tara Donovan, including two works that have never before been shown publicly.
Known for her transformative use of everyday materials, Donovan’s most recent sculptures are in exquisite formal dialogue with the building itself. The Stratagem works, made of thousands of recycled CDs, will constantly shift as the light and weather outside of Transamerica’s glass Annex gallery changes over the course of days and months.
“My most recent sculpture series titled Stratagems are deeply connected to skyscraper architecture, both in their immediate verticality and their surface appearance. When ICA SF invited me to be part of their evolution across the city, I could not imagine a more perfect site to bring these works than the soaring Transamerica Pyramid. I am always fixated on the ways that sculptures transform space and experience, and in this context, an intention of these sculptures to engage the understanding of urban architecture can be fully realized. The power of ICA SF’s new model is in the ability to situate objects like this in new contexts that can transform our understanding of space and art. I am so thrilled to be a part of this intervention into the city.” — Tara Donovan
Date
January 17–July 31, 2026
COVER IMAGE
Stratagems (installation view), 2024. CDs, concrete, stainless steel. © Tara Donovan. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photographer: Melissa Goodwin.
LOCATION
Transamerica Pyramid Center (Annex)
Stratagems (installation photo), 2024. CDs, concrete, stainless steel. © Tara Donovan. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photographer: Melissa Goodwin.
Stratagem XVIII, 2025. CDs, concrete, stainless steel. © Tara Donovan. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photographer: Melissa Goodwin.
Stratagem IX (detail), 2024. CDs, concrete, stainless steel. © Tara Donovan. Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photographer: Melissa Goodwin.
For over twenty years, Tara Donovan (b. 1969, Flushing, New York) has created large-scale installations, sculptures and drawings that utilize everyday objects to explore the transformative effects of accumulation and aggregation. Known for her commitment to process, she has earned acclaim for her ability to exploit the inherent physicality of an object in order to transform it into works that generate unique perceptual phenomena and atmospheric effects.
Donovan’s many accolades include the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award (2008); and the first annual Calder Prize (2005), among others. Numerous museums have mounted solo exhibitions of Donovan’s work including the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California (2004, 2009); Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri (2006); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2007–2008); Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2008); Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana (2010); Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin (2012); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark (2013), Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen, Germany (2014); Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York (2015); Jupiter Artland, Wilkieston, Scotland (2015); Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Colorado (2018–2019); The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago (2019); and The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut (2024–2025). Her work is held in the collections of major institutions including the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indiana; Kunsthalle Praha, Prague; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others. Pace Gallery has represented Donovan since 2005.
The artist lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.