Maybe I can get a viewer to suspend a belief system if I can make it pleasurable for them with humor sometimes.
—Al Taylor
Although he began his career as a painter, American artist Al Taylor (1948–1999) was primarily a sculptor and draftsman, who found inspiration for his lyrical and playful compositions in unexpected objects and situations. Driven by his wit and curiosity, he explored the artistic potential of pet stains, imagined puddles hanging from wires, and turned tin cans into elegant still lifes. A painter at heart, he experimented freely with materials and techniques to produce drawings of great fluidity and sensuousness.
This exhibition of nearly one hundred drawings and sketchbooks is the first museum retrospective of Taylor’s draw- ings in the United States. Installed in chronological order, it highlights the combination of traditional skills, methodological innovation, and humor that characterizes Taylor’s singular contribution to drawing at the end of the twentieth century.
This online exhibition was created in conjunction with the exhibition The Drawings of Al Taylor, on view from February 21 through September 13, 2020.
The Drawings of Al Taylor is organized by the Morgan Library & Museum, New York. The exhibition is made possible by generous support from the Sherman Fairchild Fund for Exhibitions, the Ricciardi Family Exhibition Fund, Alyce Williams Toonk, the Robert Lehman Foundation, and David Zwirner.