Michael Taylor

About
Michael Taylor (born 1979) is a South African artist who lives and works in Cape Town. He studied at Stellenbosch University, where he completed his Master’s Degree in Visual Art. Primarily working in the mediums of painting and drawing, his work explores notions around narrative art, absorbing ideas from illustration and abstract representation. In 2013, Michael was shortlisted as 100 Young Painters of Tomorrow by Thames & Hudson. His work is also included in the Woodner Collection.
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.
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
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 |
Selected Publications
2013 Selected Works
2005 The Book of Immediate Nonsense, Electronic Book