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