THE TIMES THAY AINT A CHANGING, FAST ENOUGH!, 2017

Narrator: Taylor based this painting on a still from a video taken by Diamond Reynolds in 2016. It depicts her boyfriend, Philando Castile, who was thirty-two years old at the time. When stopped by the police, Castile attempted to explain that he had a legal gun in his vehicle. He was shot seven times at close range and killed. The murder sparked nation-wide anguish and protest. Taylor talked about his urge to make the painting. 

Henry Taylor: It was definitely emotional. And I don't know, because I think about the newspaper when you, because I do have a habit. I was a journalism major. Articles and things permeate. And then you say, no,I don't want to do it. So, you have this ambivalence. But it's not like I'm grabbing certain headlines.

Sometimes we become sort of, nonchalant is not the word, but when something happens over and over, we become sort of immune to it. But I think I just really reacted, you know what I mean?