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.
Teresa Solar Abboud says:
“After participating in When Forms Come Alive at the Hayward Gallery in 2024, I am thrilled to be invited back to work on an ambitious new development in my artistic practice with my first sculpture ever created in bronze. I am excited to present Mother Tongue, which envisions tongues as knots and crossroads, as entangled symbiotic entities that joyfully walk and dance together.”
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.
Mother Tongue also draws on Solar Abboud’s experience of motherhood, challenging traditional representations while exploring the feeling of becoming a “foreigner” within oneself. Reaching upwards, the resulting work offers a site of grounding and transcendence where visitors can find shelter.
The eye-catching sculpture joins a number of other site-wide commissions from artists Jeppe Hein, Klaus Weber, Bharti Kher, Nicola Tyson and Charlie Billingham as part of the Southbank Centre’s lively public art programme which brings the work of the most innovative international artists to our outdoor spaces.
Rachel Thomas, Chief Curator at the Hayward Gallery, says:
“We are delighted to welcome Teresa Solar Abboud back to the Hayward Gallery with this spectacular new public art commission that promises to transform our iconic brutalist forecourt into a site of radical encounter and wonder. The sculpture’s playful yet profound presence will create an unmistakable landmark, inviting conversation and sparking joy from a wide range of passersby, including commuters crossing Waterloo Bridge, tourists exploring the South Bank, or visitors attending our venues.”
The commission is generously supported by the Hayward Gallery Commissioning Committee, Travesía Cuatro and Byredo.
About the artist
Teresa Solar Abboud (b. 1985) is a visual artist living and working in Madrid, Spain. Abboud’s works have been exhibited in major institutions around the world, including most recently opening Bird Machine Dream at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin, 2025). This exhibition marked the third chapter of her first retrospective, following her shows at CA2M (Madrid, 2024) and MACBA (Barcelona, 2024). Among her latest projects are Birth of Islands at The High Line (New York, 2024) and When Forms Come Alive at the Hayward Gallery (London, 2024). She also participated in the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Cecilia Alemani (2022), and has presented solo exhibitions at institutions including Kunsthalle Lissabon (Lisbon), 1646 (The Hague), Matadero (Madrid), Index Foundation (Stockholm), and Der TANK, Institut Kunst (Basel).
