For Khalif Tahir Thompson, levity in life’s darkest moments served as inspiration for his latest show, “Send in the Clowns,” the title an ode to the 1973 Stephen Sondheim song. “It’s a theatrical metaphor for ‘let’s start the jokes’ and a way to mask pain with humor,” says Thompson, who is mounting his first solo exhibition with Victoria Miro since joining the gallery last spring. “It’s my response to difficulties and hardship growing up. It reflects what I did to lighten the mood.”
Image: Khalif Tahir Thompson, Lambent, 2026
Oil, acrylic, and handmade paper on canvas
240 x 180 cm
94 1/2 x 70 7/8 in
© Khalif Tahir Thompson
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro
October 2 2026
