Teacher Guide:
Henry Taylor: B Side
Oct 4, 2023–Jan 28, 2024

The Whitney is delighted to introduce Henry Taylor: B Side, which surveys over thirty years of the career of the Los Angeles artist. It presents artworks in a variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation. The title “B Side,” or “flipside” as Taylor says, refers to the other side of a record album that often contains more experimental and unconventional music.

Taylor's subjects include family members, fellow artists, Los Angeles natives, and street scenes. He also depicts iconic political, athletic and musical figures, as well as current and historic images of racism and violence in the United States. His paintings and sculptures empathetically portray a nuanced and complex portrait of the lived experience.

This guide provides a framework for teachers to facilitate discussions from four main ideas drawn from artworks in the exhibition. It provides exploratory questions with suggested activities for the classroom inspired by the artist’s work.

We hope you and your students enjoy engaging with the artworks in Henry Taylor: B Side. For additional resources, please visit the exhibition page.

An elderly couple and three children stand in front of a white house with blue trim. On the left side of the painting, grass, a tree, and a horse are partially visible beyond the house. The older feminine figure is wearing a blue button-down dress with a white patterned apron tied at their waist. Their arms wrap around the shoulders of two of the children. The third child, who is slightly taller, stands to the left. The older masculine figure stands to the right of the others, wearing a cowboy hat, jeans, and beige collared shirt over a white undershirt.
An elderly couple and three children stand in front of a white house with blue trim. On the left side of the painting, grass, a tree, and a horse are partially visible beyond the house. The older feminine figure is wearing a blue button-down dress with a white patterned apron tied at their waist. Their arms wrap around the shoulders of two of the children. The third child, who is slightly taller, stands to the left. The older masculine figure stands to the right of the others, wearing a cowboy hat, jeans, and beige collared shirt over a white undershirt.

Henry Taylor, The Love of Cousin Tip, 2017. Acrylic on canvas, 70 1/8 x 96 ¼ x 2 1/8 in. (178 x 244.5 x 5.4 cm). ©️ Henry Taylor. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photograph by Jeff McLane

A portrait of the artist, his son, and his daughter against a pink background. The figures are arranged such that the artist's face and shoulders take up the right half of the painting, partially blocking the torso of his son, who stands behind him, and his daughter, who is pictured in the top left corner. They gaze at the audience with a neutral expression.

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About the Artist

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A woman and child stand next to each other both wearing dresses.

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Picturing People

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A painting of a Black female figure mid-jump in front of a row of houses. She is suspended in the air, pictured against a clear blue sky. Her right arm is bent in a right angle, her left arm outstretched to the side, and her legs are folded sideways. She is wearing white shorts and a white t shirt which has “TUSKEGE” written in black letters across the chest. Her face has no visible features.

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Icons and Legends

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Against an aqua background, a white oven sits in bottom left of the painting. Resting on the stovetop is a rectangular pan of cornbread, a metal pot, and a tube of Morton’s Sea Salt. In the upper left corner is a bottle of golden colored syrup. The words “CORN BREAD” are written in black letters to the right of the syrup. The letters “CORA” are highlighted by a white L-shaped box with a black outline.

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Object Portraits

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A Black woman and man sit on a couch, in front of a low cofee table. They are seated in a grassy area, with a couple of trees behind them. In the far background is a road with a white wall behind it. The words "warning shots not required" are written on the wall in black letters, and there is a small crowd of Black men in blue uniforms around this area of the wall.

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Confronting Histories

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On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.