The One-Two-Three-Four-Five-{Six-Seven?} Punch • New paintings by Taylor Smith • January 16th - February 1st, 2015
Getting the KO with the one-two punch is nice, but truly indulging is what it’s all about. Knuckles into pearly whites (three-four).) Blood from every face hole (five-six).) Foot to the wiener? (seven?).) To indulge means to allow oneself to enjoy pleasure. In this case, the pleasure of destroying something beautiful (#bradpitt).) The paintings on display love to be bad, and make every possible indulgence for your viewing pleasure. They have their cake, eat it too, and then wash it down with donuts and ice cream (#paintjob).) They don’t hold punches.
The force that drives them is a refusal to self edit. Uncertainty is met head on with a dogged insistence to move forward. When a painting appears dead or flat, another layer is thrown on and this repeats until they reach a resolution or simply can’t take anymore. The raw materials are largely culled from the ordinary and mundane: images taken from our periphery. They are simple geometric shapes, the building blocks of any structure: the pattern of a fence, a brick wall, or a window. These forgettable forms are given center stage, elevated into a sugary, highly saturated, world. The illusion of depth is avoided and all components are flattened into the foreground. With everything crowding the same plane, right in front of your nose, the forgettable becomes unavoidable.
Taylor Smith is a graduate of UT Austin, in Studio Art. He was born in Houston, TX where he now lives and works
smithist.com
The force that drives them is a refusal to self edit. Uncertainty is met head on with a dogged insistence to move forward. When a painting appears dead or flat, another layer is thrown on and this repeats until they reach a resolution or simply can’t take anymore. The raw materials are largely culled from the ordinary and mundane: images taken from our periphery. They are simple geometric shapes, the building blocks of any structure: the pattern of a fence, a brick wall, or a window. These forgettable forms are given center stage, elevated into a sugary, highly saturated, world. The illusion of depth is avoided and all components are flattened into the foreground. With everything crowding the same plane, right in front of your nose, the forgettable becomes unavoidable.
Taylor Smith is a graduate of UT Austin, in Studio Art. He was born in Houston, TX where he now lives and works
smithist.com
