Henry Taylor: B Side
Oct 4, 2023–Jan 28, 2024
A Jack Move—Proved It
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Most often based on iconic photographs of figures who have played a significant role in the larger cultural narrative, these paintings serve as powerful visual symbols of Black accomplishment and aspiration. Historically, portraits have been used to communicate authority, achievement, and social standing. Taylor's depictions of legendary figures within the Black community who have broken barriers and achieved world-changing political, artistic, or athletic success, advance this tradition. In honoring these figures, Taylor signals to the remarkable feats of ambition and overcoming that have inspired him.
Henry Taylor, See Alice Jump, 2011
Henry Taylor, See Alice Jump, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 76 1/2 × 113 in. (194.3 × 287 cm). Da Costa Gomez Family Collection. © Henry Taylor. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photograph by Joshua White
The track-and-field legend Alice Coachman set a record in the high jump at the 1948 London games, becoming the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Her success and barrier-breaking achievement symbolized hope and progress for Black Americans at a time when racial segregation and discrimination pervaded the United States. Taylor based this painting on a photograph taken of Coachman while she was a student at the Tuskegee Institute, one of the nation’s first historically Black universities. By altering the photo and positioning Coachman as if she is jumping over houses in a neighborhood, Taylor metaphorically alludes to the social and economic barriers she overcame growing up in the segregated South.