Al Taylor

David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of drawings and constructions by Al Taylor, the artist’s fourth solo exhibition at David Zwirner and the first presentation of his work at our London gallery. The exhibition will focus on early works, executed from the mid- to late-1980s, which marked the artist’s move from painting on canvas to creating makeshift objects constructed out of humble and sometimes humorous materials—such as old broomsticks and carpentry scraps—that he found in the trash. Taylor’s drawings and idiosyncratic assemblages offer a multitude of distinct viewpoints as they vacillate between three and two dimensions with their painterly exploration of line, shadow, perspective, and their precise use of color. As described by Klaus Kertess in the catalogue for Taylor’s first solo show in 1986, which included a number of these works, “Al Taylor’s sleight of hand eschews all bravado in favor of a casual clarity and directness. His modest materials and means succeed in constructing new tools for vision.”

Read “A Conversation” between Ulrich Loock and Al Taylor published by the Kunsthalle Bern on the occasion of the artist’s 1992 exhibition.

Al Taylor

artists:
Al Taylor