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

Selected Group Exhibitions

Art Fairs

Selected Publications