Michael Taylor

About
Michael Taylor (b. 1979; Bloemfontein, South Africa) is an abstract-figurative painter, who currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. Taylor holds a Master of Fine Arts from Stellenbosch University and has since exhibited in solo and group shows across South Africa, Australia, The Netherlands, the UK, and the USA. As a process and narrative-oriented artist, Taylor’s work explores themes of form, memorability, and intuition through figurative and abstract storytelling, immortalised in imaginary characters and visual metaphors.
Abstract marking plays a central role in Taylor’s development of visual narratives, which are often coupled with titles that capture how moments are remembered, as well as the psychological impression they leave. These titles invite moments of recognition, touching on themes of masculinity, theatricality, personal and cultural mythologies, and the complexities of human behaviour. Incorporating humour and ridicule, Taylor’s playful compositions also provide insight into the absurdity of life and humans’ relationship with vulnerability as he builds on narratives that contribute to everyday thinking, inviting viewers to reflect on their own perception of the world, while making them more aware of themselves.
In 2013, Taylor was shortlisted for the Thames & Hudson’s 100 Young Painters of Tomorrow publication and was featured in Modern Painters Magazine’s 100 Artists to Watch in 2012. Selected solo exhibitions include Islands (2023) with The Finch Project in London, The Acme Suite (2022) with WHATIFTHEWORLD gallery, Cape Town, and Save the Date (2022) with .M Contemporary in Sydney. Taylor has been included in various group shows, including Wanderlust (2025) with The Finch Project at Noho Galleries in London, Significant Other (2024) at WITW x Krone in Tulbagh, Cape Town, RESTUDIO (2021) at Cunningham Contemporary, and Print Promises (2018) at IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, among many others. Taylor has also presented works at many local and international art fairs, including the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (2023/2025), FNB Art Joburg (2023), Artissima, Italy (2024), and Dallas Art Fair (2025). Prominent collections that house Taylor’s works include The Spier Art Collection, Stellenbosch University, (South Africa), and The Woodner Collection (USA).
ARTIST STATEMENT
“My work can be described as ironic, illustrative, and self-reflexive pictures. I draw comparisons between personal and cultural knowledge – themes and narratives that inform my everyday thinking. These interpretations are fundamentally concerned with image-text paradigms – the subtleties between visual thoughts and language. I look at these relationships, particularly the interplay between an image and its adjoined title, as concepts for my work. And I am always interested in working with humour and ridicule, ways of communicating that are disarming, and those aspects pointing to being simply human. It’s these elements, I believe, that will make the viewer become aware of themselves when reading the image.” – Michael Taylor
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 | The Acme Suite - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2021 | This is Awkward, .M Contemporary, Sydney |
2019 | Boys On The Side - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2018 | BOY. BOAT. BAT. - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2016 | The Jungle Husband, M. Contemporary, Sydney, Australia |
The Night Moves - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town | |
2015 | Trophies - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
VOLTA NY 2015, New York | |
2014 | Home Truths, M. Contemporary, Sydney, Australia |
I Was Born Yesterday - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, South Africa | |
2012 | Mumbo Jumbo - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2011 | The Tenacious Tree Huggers, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2010 | Comeback Boys, CO-OP, Johannesburg |
The Lion’s Den, WorldArt Gallery, Cape Town Comeback Boys, CO-OP, Johannesburg Joburg Art Fair (with João Ferreira Gallery), Johannesburg | |
Joburg Art Fair (with João Ferreira Gallery), Johannesburg | |
2009 | The Plot Thickens, WorldArt Gallery, Cape Town |
Art Amsterdam, João Ferreira Gallery, Amsterdam | |
2008 | Prints & Editions 08, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2007 | Nocturnes, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2006 | Who framed Michael Taylor?, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
Title Sequence, US Gallery, Stellenbosch |
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 | Wanderlust, The Finch Project, Noho Galleries, London, UK |
2024 | Significant Other - WHATIFTHEWORLD x KRONE, Tulbagh, Cape Town, South Africa |
2021 | RESTUDIO, Cunningham Contemporary, Johannesburg |
2018 | Print Promises, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town |
Proof, SMAC, Stellenbosch | |
2013 | Positive Tension, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town |
2012 | Paint I: Contemporary Painting in South Africa 2002 - 2012, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town |
2011 | A Natural Selection: 1911 - 2011, AVA Gallery, Cape Town |
2010 | The Menippean Uprising, Blank Projects, Cape Town |
Curren Matter, Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek | |
2009 | Summer Salon, UCA Gallery, Cape Town |
Angels4Good, Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek | |
Black, Blank Projects, Cape Town | |
A Meeting, AVA Gallery, Cape Town | |
Subtext, US Gallery, Stellenbosch | |
Pigment on Paper, UCA Gallery, Cape Town | |
2007 | Am I a Painter, ArtB Gallery, Bellville |
Paper and Me, Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town | |
2006 | The most exciting drawing show ever, the KKNK, Oudtshoorn |
Title Sequence, US Gallery, Stellenbosch | |
The Collage Show, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town | |
2004 | BSA L’Atelier Awards, National Exhibition, ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg |
ABSA L’Atelier Awards, Regional Exhibition, ArtB Gallery, Bellville |
Art Fairs
Dallas Art Fair 2025 |
Cape Town Art Fair 2025 |
Artissima 2024 |
FNB Art Joburg 2023 |
Cape Town Art Fair 2023 |
Selected Publications
2013 Selected Works
2005 The Book of Immediate Nonsense, Electronic Book