ART REVIEW: "The Drawings of Al Taylor" “The Drawings of Al Taylor” at the Morgan Library and Museum presents some 80 drawings in a variety of media as wellas 20 sketchbooks by the 20th century American artist. The works are drawn from the Morgan's own collection as well as from the collections of the artist's estate and that of his widow.
Al Taylor was born in Springfield, Missouri in 1948. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute, before moving to New York City in 1970, There he worked as an art mover, set designer and as studio assistant to Robert Rauchenberg for eight years. By the 1980s, his own work was being recognized and he began to have solo exhibitions. He went on to have numerous exhibitions in both Europe and America before his death in 1999. Taylor's work is included in the collections of several museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., the British Museum and the Pomidu Center in Paris. Taylor began his career as a painter. However, in 1980 he visted Africa and was impressed how village children made toys out of found objects. “Africa taught me about making do with what you have on hand”, he said. As a result, his focus shifted from painting to drawing and constructing three dimensional objects made from everyday materials. The artist considered his three dimensional objects an extension of his drawings. “This isn't sculpture. It's more like a pile of drawings that you can walk around.” Thus, while his drawings often deal with the same subject as his three dimensional constructions, they are not studies. Rather, they are another way of exploring the subject. “At best a drawing should function as a pure drawing first and only as a conceptual springboard second. I'm using concepts only as a good excuse to make a better drawing - - a thing of beauty which can hold on that level all by itself as a desirable object.” For example, in this exhibition, there are high contrast black and white drawings of tin cans suspended by wires - - a subject Taylor also explored in his three dimensional constructions. Along the same lines, Taylor created duck heads out of fishing floats that he found on a beach in Hawaii. These were held together with rubber bands and tape. He also did a series of somewhat abstract color drawings for his “Ducks in Bondage” series. Taylor's sense of humor led him to find inspiration in unusual subjects. Perhaps the best known example is the works he said were inspired by pet stains. Drawings of abstract shapes, dribbles and lines were supposedly representations of puddles left by dogs relieving themselves. Indeed, some even have the name of the dog or the breed who produced the puddle written on them. However, the images are not realistic depictions of such stains but rather abstract images and the titles of the works are more likely just a tongue-in-cheek jibe at the pretensions of the contemporary art establishment than a real description of the subject matter. |
Talor found inspiration in everyday objects and in unusual places such as tin cans on wire (above) and pet stains (below).
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Art review - Morgan Library and Museum - "The Drawings of Al Taylor"