Hayward Gallery announces monumental new sculptural commission from Teresa Solar Abboud

Today, the Hayward Gallery launches Mother Tongue: a monumental public art commission by Spanish artist Teresa Solar Abboud supported by Byredo and the Hayward Gallery’s Commissioning Committee. The bubblegum pink sculpture of two tongues intertwining as one dancing figure is located on the walkway in front of the Gallery’s entrance, giving the iconic brutalist site a surreal new look this Autumn. The commission marks the first time that the artist’s ambitious outdoor sculptures have been presented by a UK public art gallery.

Solar Abboud’s larger-than-life installations capture moments of transformation. Vibrant and abstract, they blend mythology, anatomy, natural history and ecology to explore the relationship between human technology and the world around us. Returning to the Hayward Gallery, after previously participating in the group show When Forms Come Alive (2024), she works with bronze for the first time to create a deeply personal commission inspired by her multicultural upbringing.

With an Egyptian mother and a Spanish father, the artist has grown up seeing a constant intermingling between the two cultures. Mother Tongue examines the translation and assimilation that would happen in her family home. The work speaks to wider conversations about cultural identity, as well the complexity of communicating across boundaries. A monument to spark curiosity and discussion, Solar Abboud extends a playful invitation to think about the ways we can learn to speak, taste and understand differently.