Henry Taylor is an LA-based artist. He both embraces and rejects the traditional painting convention and formal label. His works are rooted in the closest people and communities around him. He is mainly influenced by abstract expressionism, minimalism, and pop art. Taylor has taken over all five galleries in Hauser & Wirth Somerset to exhibit his paintings and sculptural works, from 26 February – 6 June 2021. This exhibition has launched online on Friday 26 February 2021.
Henry Taylor, “Portrait of my cousin GF: Dana Gallegos”, 2020, Courtesy of Artist and Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Photo by Ken Adlard. https://www.hauserwirth.com/
Henry Taylor, “Untitled”, 2019, Courtesy of Henry Taylor and Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Photo by Ken Adlard. https://www.hauserwirth.com/
Taylor’s artworks range from a portrait painting of his acquaintances, urban landscape paintings, installation art, to open space sculpture. He deals with various social issues, such as identity, gender, memory, and mass culture.
Henry Taylor, “Untitled”, 2020, Courtesy of Henry Taylor and Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Photo by Ken Adlard. https://www.hauserwirth.com/
Installation views of ‘Henry Taylor’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset. 2021. Courtesy of Artist and Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Photo by Ken Adlard. https://www.hauserwirth.com/
Both his paintings and installations arts dive into everyday life. It is indicated by some elements, such as a portrait painting of his family members and neighbors, a wall sculpture made of toilet paper rolls, basketball, table decoration, and antique drawer. He also uses evocative symbols, like the bronze sculpture of a running man with a tree branch as his head, or horse as a symbol of power but also restrained power.
Taylor’s bronze sculpture was inspired by a conversation with his older brother, Randy in the 1980s. Randy was a founding member of the Black Panther chapter in Ventura County, California. One day, he got an explicit bumper sticker using a racial slur. This memory remains to stay in Taylor’s mind and he realized it in the outdoor sculpture.
Henry Taylor, “Untitled”, 2020, Courtesy of Artist and Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Photo by Ken Adlard. https://www.hauserwirth.com/
Henry Taylor, “Untitled”, 2021, Courtesy of Artist and Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Photo by Ken Adlard. https://www.hauserwirth.com/
Taylor has transformed “commonplace objects into stories of his own lived history”. In the past six months, he made “a series of tabletop sculptures that relate directly to the landscape of a city, urban planning and an altered perspective looking down into housing projects”.
Henry Taylor, “Untitled”, 2021, Courtesy of Artist and Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Photo by Ken Adlard. https://www.hauserwirth.com/
This exhibition displays Taylor’s remarkable artworks that “interrogate the breadth of the human condition, social movements, and political structures”.
Henry Taylor: In the Studio
