Fish Parts (#3)

Although he began his career as a painter, Taylor turned to sculpture and drawing in the mid-1980s. During his short life he produced more than 5,000 drawings, which, while related to his three-dimensional constructions by their subjects, form an independent body of work. This drawing belongs to a group of fish parts inspired by a six-foot fish replica Taylor retrieved from a trash bin and cut into five sections before suspending them on the wall with wires to create an installation. After drawing each part in pencil, he reworked this part with toner--a medium he liked for the intensity of the black--mixed with solvent, creating a strong effect of chiaroscuro and endowing the subject with a beautiful sense of fluidity.