Henry Taylor: B Side
Oct 4, 2023–Jan 28, 2024
Gettin it done
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After graduating from CalArts in 1995, Taylor first moved to downtown Los Angeles, where he nurtured a significant rapport with his neighbors. Taylor's depictions of friends, local personalities, and passers-by are joined by street scenes inspired by his global travels. The result is a gallery of his extended community, which he commemorates in images that capture each subject's humanity and personality.
Henry Taylor, Too Sweet, 2016
Henry Taylor, Too Sweet, 2016. Acrylic on canvas, 132 × 72 in. (335.3 × 182.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York; gift of Lonti Ebers. © Henry Taylor. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photograph by Sam Kahn
Taylor based this canvas on a photograph he took from inside his car of a man asking drivers and passengers for help. In the source image, the man’s sign reads “Anything Helps.” By removing the text and depicting the individual larger than life, Taylor monumentalizes his subject, presenting him in the grand scale of historical portraits. The work’s title, Too Sweet, may refer both to the See’s Candies store in the background and to the character of the depicted individual.