Nathan Taylor: the poetics of excessEmily Cloney and Michael Reid

Nathan Taylor:the poetics of excess

Nathan Taylor:the poetics of excess

Nathan Taylor:the poetics of excess

Nathan Taylor:the poetics of excess

www.nathantaylor.com.au

email: info@nathantaylor.com.au

Nathan Taylor is represented by

Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay44 Roslyn Gardens

Elizabeth Bay

Sydney

New South Wales 2011

Australia

www.michaelreid.com.au

Telephone: +61 2 8353 3500

Copyright © Nathan Taylor, Emily Cloney and Michael Reid

© Artworks, Nathan Taylor

© Texts, the authors

All images reproduced with permission.

Nathan Taylor: the poetics of excessISBN 978-0-9873499-0-3 Hardback

All rights reserved.

This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for purposes of criticism, review or private research as allowed under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any means without written permission.

Edited by Emily Cloney

Designed by Keong Loh

Photography of artworks by Simon Cuthbert,

Jeremy Dillon and Peter Angus Robinson

Cover

Dead to the world

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Frontispiece

Taken to heart (detail)

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

For Jane, Etta and Amina

Nathan Taylor, 2012

www.nathantaylor.com.au

email: info@nathantaylor.com.au

Nathan Taylor is represented by

Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay44 Roslyn Gardens

Elizabeth Bay

Sydney

New South Wales 2011

Australia

www.michaelreid.com.au

Telephone: +61 2 8353 3500

Copyright © Nathan Taylor, Emily Cloney and Michael Reid

© Artworks, Nathan Taylor

© Texts, the authors

All images reproduced with permission.

Nathan Taylor: the poetics of excessISBN 978-0-9873499-0-3 Hardback

All rights reserved.

This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for purposes of criticism, review or private research as allowed under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any means without written permission.

Edited by Emily Cloney

Designed by Keong Loh

Photography of artworks by Simon Cuthbert,

Jeremy Dillon and Peter Angus Robinson

Cover

Dead to the world

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Frontispiece

Taken to heart (detail)

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

For Jane, Etta and Amina

Nathan Taylor, 2012

ix

Foreword Sheer skill is just not enough. It is as simple

as that.

Admiration for technique can confuse skill

with worth. A close inspection of a well-

carved wooden sphere reveals that it is just

that, a round bit of carved wood. The carving

is skilful yet it is no more than a ball. You can

be left wondering where else the artisan could

have taken that particular piece of wood.

Craftsmanship bereft of significance can be

disappointing. There needs to be more to

an artwork than technique. What is truly

mesmerising is when an artist such as Nathan

Taylor, a practitioner of great ability, uses his

exquisite technique to develop his subject

into a broader discussion of today’s world.

In Nathan’s paintings ability and content are

equally fascinating and it is a fascination that

lasts.

Nathan’s paintings tell a contemporary story

in two ways, often simultaneously. There is

Nathan Taylor, the landscape painter. Not the

wide brown land for Nathan, nor the sweeping

plains. No, those are not his landscapes.

Nathan is a painter of the landscape of urban

Australia, documenting the overflowing bins

and worn pavements of suburban streets.

Nathan’s landscapes dwell on neglected

moments. They give prominence to carefully

designed objects that have been worn through

use and then often simply discarded - a

shopping trolley, wheels askew and broken,

left forever haunting a far corner of Planet

Parking Station. Nathan’s paintings are kind

(and he is a kind person) and his observations

recognise and thereby re-include the

abandoned.

Acting in concert with his recording of an

urban landscape, is Nathan’s forensic noting

of the detritus of our lives. His paintings are

visual manuscripts detailing the fat-saturated

excesses of our society right now.

ix

Foreword Sheer skill is just not enough. It is as simple

as that.

Admiration for technique can confuse skill

with worth. A close inspection of a well-

carved wooden sphere reveals that it is just

that, a round bit of carved wood. The carving

is skilful yet it is no more than a ball. You can

be left wondering where else the artisan could

have taken that particular piece of wood.

Craftsmanship bereft of significance can be

disappointing. There needs to be more to

an artwork than technique. What is truly

mesmerising is when an artist such as Nathan

Taylor, a practitioner of great ability, uses his

exquisite technique to develop his subject

into a broader discussion of today’s world.

In Nathan’s paintings ability and content are

equally fascinating and it is a fascination that

lasts.

Nathan’s paintings tell a contemporary story

in two ways, often simultaneously. There is

Nathan Taylor, the landscape painter. Not the

wide brown land for Nathan, nor the sweeping

plains. No, those are not his landscapes.

Nathan is a painter of the landscape of urban

Australia, documenting the overflowing bins

and worn pavements of suburban streets.

Nathan’s landscapes dwell on neglected

moments. They give prominence to carefully

designed objects that have been worn through

use and then often simply discarded - a

shopping trolley, wheels askew and broken,

left forever haunting a far corner of Planet

Parking Station. Nathan’s paintings are kind

(and he is a kind person) and his observations

recognise and thereby re-include the

abandoned.

Acting in concert with his recording of an

urban landscape, is Nathan’s forensic noting

of the detritus of our lives. His paintings are

visual manuscripts detailing the fat-saturated

excesses of our society right now.

x xi

Preface This book, spanning just over ten years of my

practice, illustrates nearly all of my completed

works since 2001. The concept of creating

such a thorough survey was born from a

conversation with Michael Reid about how,

usually not long after they are completed, my

works sell and then disappear. This sudden

total absence contrasts starkly with the

concentrated weeks spent in their creation

and fabrication. It is as rewarding as it is

challenging. Knowing my works are being

shared and enjoyed is part of the satisfaction

of being an artist but the routine of their swift

removal after weeks of concentrated work can

sometimes feel like a perpetual cycle.

Despite being initially slightly hesitant about

Michael’s idea, the end result has proved to

be particularly gratifying. Collating all these

works has revealed a valuable perspective

towards my own practice, giving structure

to the slow progression and development of

ideas. It has also offered me the opportunity

to rediscover and reconnect with older works.

Above all, it has enabled me to share my

perspective and visual journey through a

changing world.

This book shows – hopefully – only a small

section of my work yet to be completed. I

believe that distinguishing what has already

been accomplished, gives direction for the

next challenge.

Nathan Taylor, 2012

He documents in paint today’s important

stories - the wastefulness of packaging and

the causes of obesity are shown through

garish Chiko Roll and Dagwood Dog wrappers

and supersized, bubble-top drink containers

drained of their all-your-sugar-intake-for-a-

week-in-one-go contents. In twenty years’

time we may find ourselves telling a child how

a cigarette was something that you lit, inhaled

its smoke and then, as the fire got close to

your fingers, stubbed out to leave a butt. At

some point in the future we will find ourselves

explaining to an incredulous audience just

how we lived our lives. Nathan’s paintings will

help us to do that.

So, alongside the wow factor of his skill and

mastery of his medium, Nathan’s paintings are

both landscapes and manuscripts. There is a

great deal to the paintings of Nathan Taylor

and they are very important.

Michael Reid, 2012

x xi

Preface This book, spanning just over ten years of my

practice, illustrates nearly all of my completed

works since 2001. The concept of creating

such a thorough survey was born from a

conversation with Michael Reid about how,

usually not long after they are completed, my

works sell and then disappear. This sudden

total absence contrasts starkly with the

concentrated weeks spent in their creation

and fabrication. It is as rewarding as it is

challenging. Knowing my works are being

shared and enjoyed is part of the satisfaction

of being an artist but the routine of their swift

removal after weeks of concentrated work can

sometimes feel like a perpetual cycle.

Despite being initially slightly hesitant about

Michael’s idea, the end result has proved to

be particularly gratifying. Collating all these

works has revealed a valuable perspective

towards my own practice, giving structure

to the slow progression and development of

ideas. It has also offered me the opportunity

to rediscover and reconnect with older works.

Above all, it has enabled me to share my

perspective and visual journey through a

changing world.

This book shows – hopefully – only a small

section of my work yet to be completed. I

believe that distinguishing what has already

been accomplished, gives direction for the

next challenge.

Nathan Taylor, 2012

He documents in paint today’s important

stories - the wastefulness of packaging and

the causes of obesity are shown through

garish Chiko Roll and Dagwood Dog wrappers

and supersized, bubble-top drink containers

drained of their all-your-sugar-intake-for-a-

week-in-one-go contents. In twenty years’

time we may find ourselves telling a child how

a cigarette was something that you lit, inhaled

its smoke and then, as the fire got close to

your fingers, stubbed out to leave a butt. At

some point in the future we will find ourselves

explaining to an incredulous audience just

how we lived our lives. Nathan’s paintings will

help us to do that.

So, alongside the wow factor of his skill and

mastery of his medium, Nathan’s paintings are

both landscapes and manuscripts. There is a

great deal to the paintings of Nathan Taylor

and they are very important.

Michael Reid, 2012

xiii

Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the writers who

contributed to expanding my ideas and

sharing their own interpretations and also

those clients who kindly lent back artworks

to be photographed for inclusion. I would like

to thank the staff at Michael Reid at Elizabeth

Bay who are particularly patient when it

comes to very fastidious and slow working

artists. A very big thank you to Michael Reid

not only for all his enthusiasm and confidence

for the project but also his unconditional and

ongoing support in driving and promoting my

practice. A special thank you to Emily Cloney,

who has been at the soul of the project and

without whom it would never have come to

fruition. Emily’s guidance and hard work has

made the entire project thoroughly rewarding.

I would like to thank my parents who have

always been, and continue to be, supportive

towards all my artistic objectives. Finally,

thank you to my partner Jane who selflessly

is always there for me, offering support, but

more importantly, an honest opinion.

Nathan Taylor, 2012

xiii

Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the writers who

contributed to expanding my ideas and

sharing their own interpretations and also

those clients who kindly lent back artworks

to be photographed for inclusion. I would like

to thank the staff at Michael Reid at Elizabeth

Bay who are particularly patient when it

comes to very fastidious and slow working

artists. A very big thank you to Michael Reid

not only for all his enthusiasm and confidence

for the project but also his unconditional and

ongoing support in driving and promoting my

practice. A special thank you to Emily Cloney,

who has been at the soul of the project and

without whom it would never have come to

fruition. Emily’s guidance and hard work has

made the entire project thoroughly rewarding.

I would like to thank my parents who have

always been, and continue to be, supportive

towards all my artistic objectives. Finally,

thank you to my partner Jane who selflessly

is always there for me, offering support, but

more importantly, an honest opinion.

Nathan Taylor, 2012

Contents Foreword .........................................................................vii

Preface ..............................................................................ix

Acknowledgements ......................................................xi

Introduction ..................................................................... 1

Conversation with Nathan Taylor ...............................7

Nathan Taylor: An Overview from the Studio ....... 17

Early Work 2001-2004 .............................................. 23

Concrete Poetics 2005 .............................................. 39

Melbourne Art Fair 2006 .......................................... 53

The Suburban Vernacular 2006-2007 .................. 63

Portraits: New Drawings 2007 ................................79

Culture Made Easy 2008 .......................................... 93

Homesick 2008-2009 ............................................. 103

Dead to the World 2009 -2010 .............................. 115

Loved to Death 2011-2012 ........................................ 131

Photographs 2008-2011 .......................................... 143

Nathan Taylor ............................................................. 159

Plates .............................................................................167

Contributors.................................................................175

Contents Foreword .........................................................................vii

Preface ..............................................................................ix

Acknowledgements ......................................................xi

Introduction ..................................................................... 1

Conversation with Nathan Taylor ...............................7

Nathan Taylor: An Overview from the Studio ....... 17

Early Work 2001-2004 .............................................. 23

Concrete Poetics 2005 .............................................. 39

Melbourne Art Fair 2006 .......................................... 53

The Suburban Vernacular 2006-2007 .................. 63

Portraits: New Drawings 2007 ................................79

Culture Made Easy 2008 .......................................... 93

Homesick 2008-2009 ............................................. 103

Dead to the World 2009 -2010 .............................. 115

Loved to Death 2011-2012 ........................................ 131

Photographs 2008-2011 .......................................... 143

Nathan Taylor ............................................................. 159

Plates .............................................................................167

Contributors.................................................................175

1

An artist lives in the same universe as

everybody else but sees it in a completely

different way. In 2001 the twenty-one-year-

old Nathan Taylor was already viewing the

world around him as an inexhaustible source

of wonders. A Hills Hoist, a chrome towel rail,

the top of a stove, a bubbler on a brick wall -

all these things took on an unexpected lustre

when removed from their original context and

recorded with the fastidious care that has

been a part of Taylor’s approach from the very

beginning.

At a precociously early stage Taylor learned

a lesson that eludes many artists throughout

their entire lives: that, in the words of

celebrated realist Gustave Flaubert, “There

is not a particle of life that does not contain

poetry within it.”

While so many artists strive for a dubious

originality, jumping between styles and media,

Taylor recognised that one could not help but

be original if one attended closely enough

to the data gathered by the senses. He soon

found that these pictures had a powerful

appeal for viewers unaccustomed to pausing

and scrutinising the surfaces of things with

such intensity.

Part of the appeal was Taylor’s ability to freeze

time as if he had hit the pause button on an

incredibly detailed film of a typical day in the

suburbs. Those things we walk past without a

second glance suddenly took on a new allure.

The reflections on a shiny metal bubbler

sparkled like the Crown Jewels. A greasy

frying pan on a stove top became a receptacle

of secrets. Objects that were previously

invisible, because so common, had magically

grown an aura.

This ability to extract wonder from the

everyday is one of the most fundamental

aspects of art. The Russian Formalist,

Viktor Shklovsky described it as a process

of ostranenie or “making strange”1 and the

American philosopher, Arthur C. Danto called

it “the transfiguration of the commonplace”.2

The paradox is that no artist can ever produce

an exact duplicate of reality. Time and entropy

ensure that the actual object is always

changing, albeit undetectably. The most

detailed and exacting pictures remind us all

the more forcibly of the impossibility of the

task. This may be why Taylor is not content

simply to paint an object from a uniform

distance every time. In his imaginary video

of life he frequently hits the zoom button,

bringing us uncomfortably close to a soiled

Introduction

1Shklovsky, Viktor , ‘Art as Technique’ (1917) in David Lodge (ed.) Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader, Longman, London, 1988

2Danto, Arthur C., The Transfiguration of the Commonplace: A Philosophy of Art, Harvard U.P, Boston, 1983

1

An artist lives in the same universe as

everybody else but sees it in a completely

different way. In 2001 the twenty-one-year-

old Nathan Taylor was already viewing the

world around him as an inexhaustible source

of wonders. A Hills Hoist, a chrome towel rail,

the top of a stove, a bubbler on a brick wall -

all these things took on an unexpected lustre

when removed from their original context and

recorded with the fastidious care that has

been a part of Taylor’s approach from the very

beginning.

At a precociously early stage Taylor learned

a lesson that eludes many artists throughout

their entire lives: that, in the words of

celebrated realist Gustave Flaubert, “There

is not a particle of life that does not contain

poetry within it.”

While so many artists strive for a dubious

originality, jumping between styles and media,

Taylor recognised that one could not help but

be original if one attended closely enough

to the data gathered by the senses. He soon

found that these pictures had a powerful

appeal for viewers unaccustomed to pausing

and scrutinising the surfaces of things with

such intensity.

Part of the appeal was Taylor’s ability to freeze

time as if he had hit the pause button on an

incredibly detailed film of a typical day in the

suburbs. Those things we walk past without a

second glance suddenly took on a new allure.

The reflections on a shiny metal bubbler

sparkled like the Crown Jewels. A greasy

frying pan on a stove top became a receptacle

of secrets. Objects that were previously

invisible, because so common, had magically

grown an aura.

This ability to extract wonder from the

everyday is one of the most fundamental

aspects of art. The Russian Formalist,

Viktor Shklovsky described it as a process

of ostranenie or “making strange”1 and the

American philosopher, Arthur C. Danto called

it “the transfiguration of the commonplace”.2

The paradox is that no artist can ever produce

an exact duplicate of reality. Time and entropy

ensure that the actual object is always

changing, albeit undetectably. The most

detailed and exacting pictures remind us all

the more forcibly of the impossibility of the

task. This may be why Taylor is not content

simply to paint an object from a uniform

distance every time. In his imaginary video

of life he frequently hits the zoom button,

bringing us uncomfortably close to a soiled

Introduction

1Shklovsky, Viktor , ‘Art as Technique’ (1917) in David Lodge (ed.) Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader, Longman, London, 1988

2Danto, Arthur C., The Transfiguration of the Commonplace: A Philosophy of Art, Harvard U.P, Boston, 1983

2 3

towel or a dripping tap, and often adopts

a fly’s perspective to allow us to view, for

example, a portable barbecue from beneath.

Banality gives way to monumentality as a

domestic implement impersonates public

sculpture.

Taylor’s titles for these works are all clichés,

or quasi-clichés: Be my guest, Business

and pleasure, Kids stay free, and so on. He

interrogates each image in his mind, thinking

how it may be fitted into a wider narrative.

The connections are oblique but not

implausible. A work such as Open all hours is a

tight close-up of a dripping metal tap over the

urinal in a pub. We imagine ourselves looking

through the eyes of a customer playing the

poker machines into the small hours of the

morning, making repeated visits to the Gents.

Or at least we might imagine such a scenario

if it wasn’t for the tiny reflection of the artist

and his camera, which serves as a signature.

Although Taylor’s brushwork is never less than

immaculate there is a pervasive tawdriness

to these subjects. The ground-level view of

a shopping trolley in One size fits all stands

in contrast to the tempting packaging and

presentation of goods in the supermarket.

Beyond the door of that temple of seductions

we enter a world of red-painted bricks,

mouldering wooden slats and a concrete

pavement littered with debris. In With friends

like these there are similar associations as

bottles of the sickly, coloured syrups used for

making Sno Kones seem to promise happiness

but are really a recipe for obesity and tooth

decay.

This hint of subliminal moralising lies in the

titles rather than the works themselves. Taylor

is at home playing the role of a suburban

archaeologist depicting old, discarded

electronic devices such as a vacuum cleaner,

a fan and a kettle. He was able to reassure

himself of the relative uniformity of consumer

society throughout the western world when,

in 2006, he secured a scholarship from the

Marten Bequest and travelled to New York,

Paris, London and Italy.

One of the direct results of that trip was a

series of detailed portrait drawings inspired

by a show of portraits by David Hockney that

Taylor saw in London. He admired the intimacy

and simplicity of these pictures and set out

to create his own small gallery of family and

close friends. In style these exquisite drawings

seem to owe less to Hockney than to an artist

such as Philip Pearlstein, who has a very

similar touch in the depiction of light and

shade on faces and clothing.

During his overseas excursion Taylor took

photographs of the urban detritus that forms

his characteristic subject matter but much

of his time was spent in museums, where he

studied everything from the Old Masters to

the American Photorealists (whose work most

closely resembles his own).

Although Taylor shares the same reliance

on the photographic image, Photorealism is

a much broader category than commonly

believed. For instance, Taylor may have a

similar fascination with reflections as Richard

Estes but he is not a painter of sweeping

architectural vistas. Much of his work may

be classified as still life but there is nothing

so neat and formal as one of Ralph Goings’

pictures. He may use strong colours but never

in such a lurid, confrontational manner as

Audrey Flack.

Unlike most Photorealists, who disavowed

the idea that their work had any deeper

significance beyond its responsiveness to

surfaces, it is important to Taylor that his

work is meaningful. Because the Photorealist

movement arose at a time when Pop

Art, Conceptual Art and various forms of

Abstraction were the recognised avant-

gardes, the work was interpreted in relation

to each of these tendencies. Many of the

Photorealists were happy to echo the dictum

of abstract artist, Frank Stella: “What you

see is what you see.” Some saw their work in

terms of perceptual problems, others aligned

themselves with the value-free

representation of the world practised by the

Pop artists.

Of the leading exponents of Photorealism –

also known as Hyperrealism or Superrealism

– the sculptor Duane Hanson was almost

unique in admitting that his work had a

socio-political agenda, touching on “the

resignation, emptiness and loneliness of

suburban existence.”3 Hanson also took the

Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement

as subjects.

Taylor is not so overtly political but he is

disturbed by the ever-increasing power of

the culture of consumption. He is alert to the

way objects begin to take the place of values,

with every gadget or sugary drink providing

a momentary contentment that soon fades.

A characteristic work from this time is Make

ends meet – a virtuoso image of a clear plastic

drink container lying on a mottled pavement,

with traces of pink-tinged liquid still visible

within it. In the complex play of shadows

and reflections we glimpse the artist’s own

silhouette.

3Entry on ‘Photorealism’ in Jane Turner (ed.) The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 24, Oxford U.P. Oxford, 2003, p.687.

2 3

towel or a dripping tap, and often adopts

a fly’s perspective to allow us to view, for

example, a portable barbecue from beneath.

Banality gives way to monumentality as a

domestic implement impersonates public

sculpture.

Taylor’s titles for these works are all clichés,

or quasi-clichés: Be my guest, Business

and pleasure, Kids stay free, and so on. He

interrogates each image in his mind, thinking

how it may be fitted into a wider narrative.

The connections are oblique but not

implausible. A work such as Open all hours is a

tight close-up of a dripping metal tap over the

urinal in a pub. We imagine ourselves looking

through the eyes of a customer playing the

poker machines into the small hours of the

morning, making repeated visits to the Gents.

Or at least we might imagine such a scenario

if it wasn’t for the tiny reflection of the artist

and his camera, which serves as a signature.

Although Taylor’s brushwork is never less than

immaculate there is a pervasive tawdriness

to these subjects. The ground-level view of

a shopping trolley in One size fits all stands

in contrast to the tempting packaging and

presentation of goods in the supermarket.

Beyond the door of that temple of seductions

we enter a world of red-painted bricks,

mouldering wooden slats and a concrete

pavement littered with debris. In With friends

like these there are similar associations as

bottles of the sickly, coloured syrups used for

making Sno Kones seem to promise happiness

but are really a recipe for obesity and tooth

decay.

This hint of subliminal moralising lies in the

titles rather than the works themselves. Taylor

is at home playing the role of a suburban

archaeologist depicting old, discarded

electronic devices such as a vacuum cleaner,

a fan and a kettle. He was able to reassure

himself of the relative uniformity of consumer

society throughout the western world when,

in 2006, he secured a scholarship from the

Marten Bequest and travelled to New York,

Paris, London and Italy.

One of the direct results of that trip was a

series of detailed portrait drawings inspired

by a show of portraits by David Hockney that

Taylor saw in London. He admired the intimacy

and simplicity of these pictures and set out

to create his own small gallery of family and

close friends. In style these exquisite drawings

seem to owe less to Hockney than to an artist

such as Philip Pearlstein, who has a very

similar touch in the depiction of light and

shade on faces and clothing.

During his overseas excursion Taylor took

photographs of the urban detritus that forms

his characteristic subject matter but much

of his time was spent in museums, where he

studied everything from the Old Masters to

the American Photorealists (whose work most

closely resembles his own).

Although Taylor shares the same reliance

on the photographic image, Photorealism is

a much broader category than commonly

believed. For instance, Taylor may have a

similar fascination with reflections as Richard

Estes but he is not a painter of sweeping

architectural vistas. Much of his work may

be classified as still life but there is nothing

so neat and formal as one of Ralph Goings’

pictures. He may use strong colours but never

in such a lurid, confrontational manner as

Audrey Flack.

Unlike most Photorealists, who disavowed

the idea that their work had any deeper

significance beyond its responsiveness to

surfaces, it is important to Taylor that his

work is meaningful. Because the Photorealist

movement arose at a time when Pop

Art, Conceptual Art and various forms of

Abstraction were the recognised avant-

gardes, the work was interpreted in relation

to each of these tendencies. Many of the

Photorealists were happy to echo the dictum

of abstract artist, Frank Stella: “What you

see is what you see.” Some saw their work in

terms of perceptual problems, others aligned

themselves with the value-free

representation of the world practised by the

Pop artists.

Of the leading exponents of Photorealism –

also known as Hyperrealism or Superrealism

– the sculptor Duane Hanson was almost

unique in admitting that his work had a

socio-political agenda, touching on “the

resignation, emptiness and loneliness of

suburban existence.”3 Hanson also took the

Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement

as subjects.

Taylor is not so overtly political but he is

disturbed by the ever-increasing power of

the culture of consumption. He is alert to the

way objects begin to take the place of values,

with every gadget or sugary drink providing

a momentary contentment that soon fades.

A characteristic work from this time is Make

ends meet – a virtuoso image of a clear plastic

drink container lying on a mottled pavement,

with traces of pink-tinged liquid still visible

within it. In the complex play of shadows

and reflections we glimpse the artist’s own

silhouette.

3Entry on ‘Photorealism’ in Jane Turner (ed.) The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 24, Oxford U.P. Oxford, 2003, p.687.

4 5

This squalid scene has its own unlikely beauty

in the way Taylor has depicted the patterns

on the pavement, the stains that creep across

its surface, and the cigarette butts in both

foreground and background. There is pathos

in the thought of the small, fleeting pleasures

generated by the fags and the drink, and the

decorative pavement now smeared with dirt.

The drink container with the rose-coloured

liquid reappears in Once in a while, from

Taylor’s 2008-2009 series, ‘Homesick’. This

time the cup is lying on a bench, still half-full,

with a straw protuding at a jaunty angle. The

title captures a sense of guilty indulgence, as if

the purchaser of the drink is confessing to an

occasional urge for one of these things even

though he knows it’s unhealthy. It is tempting

to complete the narrative by having the

drinker feel satiated after a few sips, walking

away filled with self-disgust.

Around this time Taylor also began

exhibiting his photographs which explore

the same territory as the paintings and act

as vital source material. To juxtapose these

photographic images with their painted

counterparts is to become freshly conscious

of the exacting standards the artist sets for

himself. It also demonstrates the painterly

dimension of canvases that seem almost

photographic. Put these pictures alongside

an actual photo and the differences become

apparent. One sees that Taylor’s paintings

are montages in which details are taken from

various photos and brought together in new

compositions. Looking at the photographs

one recognises the extreme sharpness of his

eye and the perhaps obsessive dimension of

his work. Imagine coming across him lying on

the ground as he focuses his camera on an ice

cream cone or a bag of chips, feeling excited

by his fantastic discovery.

Over the past two years this obsessive

dimension has become ever more

pronounced. Taylor’s recent pictures are

extraordinary in their detail, in the depiction

of contrasting surfaces and textures. In Taken

to heart the dull metal grid on the top of a

bubbler is juxtaposed with the shiny metal

of the tap, the flaking paint of its central bolt,

a discarded piece of cellophane and a small

green blob of chewing gum.

Paintings such as Dead to the world or Serve

you right present an even more impressive

collection of competing textures. The

repulsive spectacle of a fithy, overloaded

garbage bin becomes a spellbinding display of

painterly technique. Such pictures show Taylor

growing in skill and ambition, turning the most

4 5

This squalid scene has its own unlikely beauty

in the way Taylor has depicted the patterns

on the pavement, the stains that creep across

its surface, and the cigarette butts in both

foreground and background. There is pathos

in the thought of the small, fleeting pleasures

generated by the fags and the drink, and the

decorative pavement now smeared with dirt.

The drink container with the rose-coloured

liquid reappears in Once in a while, from

Taylor’s 2008-2009 series, ‘Homesick’. This

time the cup is lying on a bench, still half-full,

with a straw protuding at a jaunty angle. The

title captures a sense of guilty indulgence, as if

the purchaser of the drink is confessing to an

occasional urge for one of these things even

though he knows it’s unhealthy. It is tempting

to complete the narrative by having the

drinker feel satiated after a few sips, walking

away filled with self-disgust.

Around this time Taylor also began

exhibiting his photographs which explore

the same territory as the paintings and act

as vital source material. To juxtapose these

photographic images with their painted

counterparts is to become freshly conscious

of the exacting standards the artist sets for

himself. It also demonstrates the painterly

dimension of canvases that seem almost

photographic. Put these pictures alongside

an actual photo and the differences become

apparent. One sees that Taylor’s paintings

are montages in which details are taken from

various photos and brought together in new

compositions. Looking at the photographs

one recognises the extreme sharpness of his

eye and the perhaps obsessive dimension of

his work. Imagine coming across him lying on

the ground as he focuses his camera on an ice

cream cone or a bag of chips, feeling excited

by his fantastic discovery.

Over the past two years this obsessive

dimension has become ever more

pronounced. Taylor’s recent pictures are

extraordinary in their detail, in the depiction

of contrasting surfaces and textures. In Taken

to heart the dull metal grid on the top of a

bubbler is juxtaposed with the shiny metal

of the tap, the flaking paint of its central bolt,

a discarded piece of cellophane and a small

green blob of chewing gum.

Paintings such as Dead to the world or Serve

you right present an even more impressive

collection of competing textures. The

repulsive spectacle of a fithy, overloaded

garbage bin becomes a spellbinding display of

painterly technique. Such pictures show Taylor

growing in skill and ambition, turning the most

6 7

ordinary motifs into elaborate anatomies of

waste, decay and obsolescence. These are

more than brilliant but empty copies of reality.

The painted objects have such a dynamic

presence they seem not merely real, but

super-real. There is almost more reality than

the senses can handle: a poetics of excess

produced with the most painstaking discipline.

“Realism is not disinterested,” Bernard

Berenson once wrote. “It has a dogma to

proclaim, a theology to defend.”4 He was

talking about the work of another era, but his

words capture some of the feeling one takes

away from Taylor’s deadpan but savage vistas

of a disposable society. By immortalising all

that is ephemeral, he creates a monument to

the lowliness of our expectations, the cheap

thrills of shopping and snacking. The colours

may be bright but these paintings provide a

window onto a world rapidly subsiding into

picturesque decay.

John McDonald

4Berenson, Bernard, Aesthetics and History in the Visual Arts, Pantheon, New York, 1948, p. 131.

Have you always painted?

I have always enjoyed being creative. All

my interests right through high school were

creatively based - art (first drawing, then

painting), ceramics, music and drama. I

was lucky enough to have very inspiring

teachers who both encouraged and pushed

me artistically. There was a lot of space to

explore ideas and support to develop them. I

think this was a very important time for me

and helped to drive my passion for a career in

visual art.

Initially, I was drawn to painting as a technical

pursuit; enjoying the challenges of advancing

my ability, but it soon took on a life of its

own, becoming a strong medium through

which to express my ideas. Even from early

on realism proved to be a rewarding way

of reaching a broad audience base. The

ability to communicate ideas confidently is

still an integral part of my practice. I think

that painting as a visual language has great

substance and that realism, as a voice, has an

honest message.

Where do you paint?

I paint from a studio situated above a car

rental place in Hobart’s CBD in an old art deco

building that was once home to an ambulance

call centre. My studio is part of the home

of a very good friend - a fellow artist who

was a very important teaching figure for me

during my pre-tertiary studies. His strength

of character and unparalleled enthusiasm for

painting was instrumental in encouraging me

to pursue a career in art and he continues to

be an important and refreshingly objective

critic for my practice.

Do you paint from life or from photographs?

I mainly paint from photographs. Photography

plays an instrumental role in my practice and

has basically become my drawing.

Each painting is born from over a hundred

photographs in which I experiment with

different aesthetics and subject matters,

slowly refining each element till I find one on

which to base a composition. Some concepts

originate from random survey shots, others

are drawn from more deliberate, concentrated

sessions. Compositional elements for each

painting are fastidiously considered but not

deliberately choreographed.

ConversationwithNathan Taylor

6 7

ordinary motifs into elaborate anatomies of

waste, decay and obsolescence. These are

more than brilliant but empty copies of reality.

The painted objects have such a dynamic

presence they seem not merely real, but

super-real. There is almost more reality than

the senses can handle: a poetics of excess

produced with the most painstaking discipline.

“Realism is not disinterested,” Bernard

Berenson once wrote. “It has a dogma to

proclaim, a theology to defend.”4 He was

talking about the work of another era, but his

words capture some of the feeling one takes

away from Taylor’s deadpan but savage vistas

of a disposable society. By immortalising all

that is ephemeral, he creates a monument to

the lowliness of our expectations, the cheap

thrills of shopping and snacking. The colours

may be bright but these paintings provide a

window onto a world rapidly subsiding into

picturesque decay.

John McDonald

4Berenson, Bernard, Aesthetics and History in the Visual Arts, Pantheon, New York, 1948, p. 131.

Have you always painted?

I have always enjoyed being creative. All

my interests right through high school were

creatively based - art (first drawing, then

painting), ceramics, music and drama. I

was lucky enough to have very inspiring

teachers who both encouraged and pushed

me artistically. There was a lot of space to

explore ideas and support to develop them. I

think this was a very important time for me

and helped to drive my passion for a career in

visual art.

Initially, I was drawn to painting as a technical

pursuit; enjoying the challenges of advancing

my ability, but it soon took on a life of its

own, becoming a strong medium through

which to express my ideas. Even from early

on realism proved to be a rewarding way

of reaching a broad audience base. The

ability to communicate ideas confidently is

still an integral part of my practice. I think

that painting as a visual language has great

substance and that realism, as a voice, has an

honest message.

Where do you paint?

I paint from a studio situated above a car

rental place in Hobart’s CBD in an old art deco

building that was once home to an ambulance

call centre. My studio is part of the home

of a very good friend - a fellow artist who

was a very important teaching figure for me

during my pre-tertiary studies. His strength

of character and unparalleled enthusiasm for

painting was instrumental in encouraging me

to pursue a career in art and he continues to

be an important and refreshingly objective

critic for my practice.

Do you paint from life or from photographs?

I mainly paint from photographs. Photography

plays an instrumental role in my practice and

has basically become my drawing.

Each painting is born from over a hundred

photographs in which I experiment with

different aesthetics and subject matters,

slowly refining each element till I find one on

which to base a composition. Some concepts

originate from random survey shots, others

are drawn from more deliberate, concentrated

sessions. Compositional elements for each

painting are fastidiously considered but not

deliberately choreographed.

ConversationwithNathan Taylor

8 9

Digital photography has enabled me to keep

an extensive visual diary, documenting years

of environments and objects, meticulously

tracking the evolution of my ideas. This

process of recording and archiving my ideas

has enabled me to pursue my concepts at a

concentrated level.

You’re both a painter and a photographer:

is there a difference between composing

a painting and composing a photograph?

Photography had always been secondary to

my painting and was initially just a tool. It

wasn’t until I started exhibiting photographs

that I began to use the camera differently.

Conceptually, photography is the medium

that helps me develop my core concepts and

painting is the vehicle I use to depict and

share those ideas.

The viewer interprets a painting differently

to a photograph because the process of

painting retains the artist’s hand through their

craft and the relationship built between the

artist and their work. This trace of the artist

is intriguing to the viewer and integral to

painting.

In contrast, photography has a level of

anonymity that can empower the viewer by

allowing them to relate an image more closely

to their own reality. The contrast between

painting and photography is an interesting

way for me to present similar subject matter

that can be interpreted in different ways.

What are your work habits like?

A typical day starts early - I’m in the studio

by 7.30am and usually leave ten hours

later: six days on, one day off. This labour-

intensive regime becomes part of my work’s

‘performance’ - ceremonial and meditative.

My work habits have become very ritualised.

They are structured around the organised and

predetermined approach of my technique. I

wouldn’t quite call the process obsessive but

it’s definitely methodical and meticulous.

This disciplined approach is integral for

me to ensure I meet my high level of self-

expectation. I’m also always trying to push

my practice, tackling harder subjects in more

complicated compositions. By doing so I’m

continually learning new ways of working:

helping to tune my ability to communicate

ideas effectively.

8 9

Digital photography has enabled me to keep

an extensive visual diary, documenting years

of environments and objects, meticulously

tracking the evolution of my ideas. This

process of recording and archiving my ideas

has enabled me to pursue my concepts at a

concentrated level.

You’re both a painter and a photographer:

is there a difference between composing

a painting and composing a photograph?

Photography had always been secondary to

my painting and was initially just a tool. It

wasn’t until I started exhibiting photographs

that I began to use the camera differently.

Conceptually, photography is the medium

that helps me develop my core concepts and

painting is the vehicle I use to depict and

share those ideas.

The viewer interprets a painting differently

to a photograph because the process of

painting retains the artist’s hand through their

craft and the relationship built between the

artist and their work. This trace of the artist

is intriguing to the viewer and integral to

painting.

In contrast, photography has a level of

anonymity that can empower the viewer by

allowing them to relate an image more closely

to their own reality. The contrast between

painting and photography is an interesting

way for me to present similar subject matter

that can be interpreted in different ways.

What are your work habits like?

A typical day starts early - I’m in the studio

by 7.30am and usually leave ten hours

later: six days on, one day off. This labour-

intensive regime becomes part of my work’s

‘performance’ - ceremonial and meditative.

My work habits have become very ritualised.

They are structured around the organised and

predetermined approach of my technique. I

wouldn’t quite call the process obsessive but

it’s definitely methodical and meticulous.

This disciplined approach is integral for

me to ensure I meet my high level of self-

expectation. I’m also always trying to push

my practice, tackling harder subjects in more

complicated compositions. By doing so I’m

continually learning new ways of working:

helping to tune my ability to communicate

ideas effectively.

10 11

How long does it usually take to complete

a painting and how do you know when

you’ve painted the final stroke?

On average each work consumes between six

to eight weeks of my time. The hours, days

and months invested in each piece are about

breaking down the image to its bare elements:

understanding and valuing every facet of its

visual composition. This results in a process

of micro-painting: deconstruction, abstracting

each element and then rebuilding. The

painting is finished after this ritual is complete

and the image restored. The process is akin

to that of doing a jigsaw puzzle: placing in the

final piece and seeing the image for the first

time.

This invested relationship with each piece is

important. My concentrated admiration for

every minute detail of the most mundane

things, together with my studio habits and

painting techniques, help me to come to

terms with the complexity and saturation of

visual information in everyday life.

How long do you leave between finishing one

painting and starting the next?

Time between paintings is relatively short: just

a few days. This is usually spent evaluating

the piece just completed and deciding on

the next challenge. As each body of work

evolves, the time spent between paintings

shortens and compositional decisions usually

become harder. Not committing to a new

piece until I have completed the last means

that the body of work develops naturally

and sympathetically to the works already

completed.

The act of creating, from concept to execution,

becomes the extent of my relationship with

the work. On completion, I feel the work

should exist for the viewer - it can now

develop a new relationship with someone

else. The ability to share my ideas and see

my work find a new home is an important and

enjoyable part the creative process.

Self portrait II

2002

Pastel on paper

195 x 130 cm

10 11

How long does it usually take to complete

a painting and how do you know when

you’ve painted the final stroke?

On average each work consumes between six

to eight weeks of my time. The hours, days

and months invested in each piece are about

breaking down the image to its bare elements:

understanding and valuing every facet of its

visual composition. This results in a process

of micro-painting: deconstruction, abstracting

each element and then rebuilding. The

painting is finished after this ritual is complete

and the image restored. The process is akin

to that of doing a jigsaw puzzle: placing in the

final piece and seeing the image for the first

time.

This invested relationship with each piece is

important. My concentrated admiration for

every minute detail of the most mundane

things, together with my studio habits and

painting techniques, help me to come to

terms with the complexity and saturation of

visual information in everyday life.

How long do you leave between finishing one

painting and starting the next?

Time between paintings is relatively short: just

a few days. This is usually spent evaluating

the piece just completed and deciding on

the next challenge. As each body of work

evolves, the time spent between paintings

shortens and compositional decisions usually

become harder. Not committing to a new

piece until I have completed the last means

that the body of work develops naturally

and sympathetically to the works already

completed.

The act of creating, from concept to execution,

becomes the extent of my relationship with

the work. On completion, I feel the work

should exist for the viewer - it can now

develop a new relationship with someone

else. The ability to share my ideas and see

my work find a new home is an important and

enjoyable part the creative process.

Self portrait II

2002

Pastel on paper

195 x 130 cm

12 13

How and when do you decide on a

work’s title?

Titling a work is one of the final steps. Some

works scream their titles at me; for others

I have to tease them out. I like titles to be

intriguing and not too leading - making

the viewer ask more questions rather than

providing an answer.

My work explores the language of the urban

environment and I use idioms and colloquial

snippets as titles in the same fashion. Just

as my paintings attempt to reinterpret the

familiar, I hope that by using common sayings

for titles I will encourage people to re-

evaluate the meaning and use of the modern

vernacular.

Did your time overseas result in any changes

in your painting, either while you were there

or after you returned to Australia?

My short but extensive trip overseas was

very pivotal in numerous ways, but most

importantly in how I saw my practice in

a broader global context. I conducted a

research project as part of a Marten Bequest

Travelling Scholarship. This took me to New

York and various European cities. The core of

this project was to absorb art at its source. It

was an overwhelmingly humbling experience

that forced a re-evaluation my own artistic

position, triggered a fresh drive of artistic

pursuits and, ultimately, resulted in greater

artistic maturity.

During my trip I also took the opportunity

to research each environment at a domestic

level by completing a wide photographic

survey. This process was important in

providing an objective perspective of our

own urban landscape and gaining a greater

understanding of what is unique and central

to the Australian aesthetic. Educating

myself in this way has also helped me further

understand how an environment and the way

we treat it has influence on people and their

culture.

Why do you prefer to draw portraits rather

than to paint them?

There is a distinctive intimacy with figurative

work especially portraiture. I hope to share

my connection with my subjects through my

interpretation of their personality and visual

presence. As my painting methods became

more premeditated, I started to feel that they

might restrict the more personal qualities

required by portraits. Drawing has immediacy

and this ultimately results in a more organic

and instinctive way of working. I have

attempted to make my drawings less laboured

in appearance compared with my painting,

emphasising the trace of my own hand.

Who are your artistic influences?

Earlier on artistic influences stemmed from

social realist painters and their depictions of

everyday life coupled with interpretations of

political and social issues of their time. Later

influences were from artists who criticised

advertising’s cultural role and how the media

interpreted and influenced society. Key

influential figures include Eric Fischl, David

Hockney, James Rosenquist and Gerhard

Richter. More obvious artistic influences

are Ralph Goings, Richard Estes and Robert

Bechtle. My admiration for the original

Photorealists centres round their unique

ability to create icons from the everyday

objects of conventional America. Through

an unpretentious and celebratory vision

they restored faith and identity in a culture

addicted to capitalism.

Recent artistic influences gravitate more

towards photographers than painters. An

example of this is William Eggleston’s work.

His unique aesthetic captures complexity

and beauty in the mundane and produces

a very powerful, sometimes cutting, social

commentary. I admire how his snapshot

aesthetic captures the relentless anxiety of

the present.

12 13

How and when do you decide on a

work’s title?

Titling a work is one of the final steps. Some

works scream their titles at me; for others

I have to tease them out. I like titles to be

intriguing and not too leading - making

the viewer ask more questions rather than

providing an answer.

My work explores the language of the urban

environment and I use idioms and colloquial

snippets as titles in the same fashion. Just

as my paintings attempt to reinterpret the

familiar, I hope that by using common sayings

for titles I will encourage people to re-

evaluate the meaning and use of the modern

vernacular.

Did your time overseas result in any changes

in your painting, either while you were there

or after you returned to Australia?

My short but extensive trip overseas was

very pivotal in numerous ways, but most

importantly in how I saw my practice in

a broader global context. I conducted a

research project as part of a Marten Bequest

Travelling Scholarship. This took me to New

York and various European cities. The core of

this project was to absorb art at its source. It

was an overwhelmingly humbling experience

that forced a re-evaluation my own artistic

position, triggered a fresh drive of artistic

pursuits and, ultimately, resulted in greater

artistic maturity.

During my trip I also took the opportunity

to research each environment at a domestic

level by completing a wide photographic

survey. This process was important in

providing an objective perspective of our

own urban landscape and gaining a greater

understanding of what is unique and central

to the Australian aesthetic. Educating

myself in this way has also helped me further

understand how an environment and the way

we treat it has influence on people and their

culture.

Why do you prefer to draw portraits rather

than to paint them?

There is a distinctive intimacy with figurative

work especially portraiture. I hope to share

my connection with my subjects through my

interpretation of their personality and visual

presence. As my painting methods became

more premeditated, I started to feel that they

might restrict the more personal qualities

required by portraits. Drawing has immediacy

and this ultimately results in a more organic

and instinctive way of working. I have

attempted to make my drawings less laboured

in appearance compared with my painting,

emphasising the trace of my own hand.

Who are your artistic influences?

Earlier on artistic influences stemmed from

social realist painters and their depictions of

everyday life coupled with interpretations of

political and social issues of their time. Later

influences were from artists who criticised

advertising’s cultural role and how the media

interpreted and influenced society. Key

influential figures include Eric Fischl, David

Hockney, James Rosenquist and Gerhard

Richter. More obvious artistic influences

are Ralph Goings, Richard Estes and Robert

Bechtle. My admiration for the original

Photorealists centres round their unique

ability to create icons from the everyday

objects of conventional America. Through

an unpretentious and celebratory vision

they restored faith and identity in a culture

addicted to capitalism.

Recent artistic influences gravitate more

towards photographers than painters. An

example of this is William Eggleston’s work.

His unique aesthetic captures complexity

and beauty in the mundane and produces

a very powerful, sometimes cutting, social

commentary. I admire how his snapshot

aesthetic captures the relentless anxiety of

the present.

14 15

The critic John Russell Taylor distinguishes

between the Photorealist movement that

primarily evolved in 1960s America and today’s

British Exactitude painters. Do you think there is

an Australian Hyperrealist movement and if so,

which other artists would you say are part of it?

As Australian art continues to change, I

believe general banners don’t accurately

reflect the crossovers and complexity of

current contemporary art practices. The

blurred lines that stretch between these

practices are what create such a fulfilling,

dynamic and interactive art scene in Australia.

There is definitely a strong presence of

realism in contemporary Australian painting.

This universal language is being cleverly

applied to remark on current social and

political issues in Australia. However, these

artists have very different, distinctive and

contemporary interpretations of realism in

their work. This variance gives strength to

a personal vision with the accessibility of

a comprehensible style. I believe current

important contemporary realists include Juan

Ford, Sam Jinks, Victoria Reichelt, Jackson

Slattery and Sam Leach.

All these artists continue to influence me by

having great strength of technique paralleled

with engaging and intelligent concepts.

If you had to choose just one of your works to

be represented in a public collection, which one

would it be and why?

It would probably be Dead to the world, 2010

[cover illustration and page 123]. This piece

proved to be pivotal to the future direction of

my practice, changing the overriding themes

of subsequent paintings. The personal

challenges overcome during this painting

helped me to readdress my compositional

strategies and overall aesthetic tone. This

shift in theme has taken my work towards a

more post-consumption focus, exploring how

discarded objects represent us socially and

mould our modern culture.

14 15

The critic John Russell Taylor distinguishes

between the Photorealist movement that

primarily evolved in 1960s America and today’s

British Exactitude painters. Do you think there is

an Australian Hyperrealist movement and if so,

which other artists would you say are part of it?

As Australian art continues to change, I

believe general banners don’t accurately

reflect the crossovers and complexity of

current contemporary art practices. The

blurred lines that stretch between these

practices are what create such a fulfilling,

dynamic and interactive art scene in Australia.

There is definitely a strong presence of

realism in contemporary Australian painting.

This universal language is being cleverly

applied to remark on current social and

political issues in Australia. However, these

artists have very different, distinctive and

contemporary interpretations of realism in

their work. This variance gives strength to

a personal vision with the accessibility of

a comprehensible style. I believe current

important contemporary realists include Juan

Ford, Sam Jinks, Victoria Reichelt, Jackson

Slattery and Sam Leach.

All these artists continue to influence me by

having great strength of technique paralleled

with engaging and intelligent concepts.

If you had to choose just one of your works to

be represented in a public collection, which one

would it be and why?

It would probably be Dead to the world, 2010

[cover illustration and page 123]. This piece

proved to be pivotal to the future direction of

my practice, changing the overriding themes

of subsequent paintings. The personal

challenges overcome during this painting

helped me to readdress my compositional

strategies and overall aesthetic tone. This

shift in theme has taken my work towards a

more post-consumption focus, exploring how

discarded objects represent us socially and

mould our modern culture.

16 17

The artist Clive Head has said of Hyperrealism,

“This is not an art that raises issues but finds a

universal voice for a personal vision.” Do you

agree and how do you see your role as an artist

now and in the future?

Hyperrealism definitely has a universal

voice and a language that is accessible

and unpretentious, but I believe that it

is misleading to suggest that it lacks the

capacity to raise unique and challenging

issues that have no political or social muscle.

The technical pursuit of a realist painter is

the vehicle; the strength of concept is raised

through a unique interpretation of subject

matter. I think contemporary hyperrealists

no longer restrict their creative direction to

documentation.

All realists use familiar objects and

environments as compositional tools.

However each interpretation is unique and

innovative. I believe artists are now adopting

the challenge of using realism beyond the

parameters of exclusively prompting a re-

evaluation of our environment.

I want to offer a challenge through my work

and not just a personal vision. This relies, in

part, on the viewer wanting to engage with the

work at this level. As I continue to develop

my practice I hope to learn new and more

confident ways of communicating my ideas.

Nathan Taylor spoke to Emily Cloney

One of the best ways to form an overview

of an artist’s life and work is to make

a studio visit. Every artist creates their

own methodology in their own unique

surroundings. When I was a young art student

my favourite book in the art school library

was Alexander Liberman’s The Artist in His

Studio1. At that time it only existed as a small,

black and white publication and so the vibrant

colours and varied surroundings of Picasso,

Chagall, and Matisse were lost in a grainy

fuzz of black and white. Many years later,

to my joy, they reissued it in a large format,

full colour edition2 that I still enjoy opening

at random and studying. Here is Kandinsky

in a neatly ordered room surrounded by his

wonderful abstractions. There is Fernand

Léger standing, with the rough demeanour

of a peasant farmer, in front of mural-sized

canvases of female acrobats and cone-hatted

clowns. And Giacometti, chain-smoking while

working though the night in his tiny studio.

In 1985 broadcaster Melvyn Bragg made one

of the most celebrated studio visits to the

cramped London quarters of Francis Bacon for

The South Bank Show3. The room is small and

messy as if every flat surface, horizontal or

vertical, is the artist’s palette. But what great

paintings grew from this tiny space.

Nathan Taylor:An Overviewfrom the Studio

When I flew to Hobart recently to visit Nathan

Taylor’s studio, I already knew his work well

from gallery and museum visits and from

reproductions. But I was keen to see where it

was created. And how it was created. I was

keen to meet the artist himself.

I found the white door next to the downtown

Hobart car rental office I’d been told to look

out for. The old Deco building was once an

ambulance call centre but is now the house

and studio of Wayne Brookes, Nathan’s

friend, studio landlord and former high school

teacher.

We navigate our way though Wayne’s world

of black rooms full of thousands of DVDs

and videos, of narrow corridors hung with

paintings of baroque interiors and lined with

book after book on art and artists.

1A. Liberman with a forward by James Thrall Soby, The Artist in his Studio, (Thames and Hudson, London, 1960) [a rather politically incorrect title, since Sonia Delauney, Natalie Gontcharova, and other great women artists appear amidst this mostly male pantheon]

2A. Liberman, The Artist in his Studio, (Thames and Hudson, London, rev. edn 1988)

3The South Bank Show, Melvyn Bragg with Francis Bacon (ITV, 9 June 1985)

16 17

The artist Clive Head has said of Hyperrealism,

“This is not an art that raises issues but finds a

universal voice for a personal vision.” Do you

agree and how do you see your role as an artist

now and in the future?

Hyperrealism definitely has a universal

voice and a language that is accessible

and unpretentious, but I believe that it

is misleading to suggest that it lacks the

capacity to raise unique and challenging

issues that have no political or social muscle.

The technical pursuit of a realist painter is

the vehicle; the strength of concept is raised

through a unique interpretation of subject

matter. I think contemporary hyperrealists

no longer restrict their creative direction to

documentation.

All realists use familiar objects and

environments as compositional tools.

However each interpretation is unique and

innovative. I believe artists are now adopting

the challenge of using realism beyond the

parameters of exclusively prompting a re-

evaluation of our environment.

I want to offer a challenge through my work

and not just a personal vision. This relies, in

part, on the viewer wanting to engage with the

work at this level. As I continue to develop

my practice I hope to learn new and more

confident ways of communicating my ideas.

Nathan Taylor spoke to Emily Cloney

One of the best ways to form an overview

of an artist’s life and work is to make

a studio visit. Every artist creates their

own methodology in their own unique

surroundings. When I was a young art student

my favourite book in the art school library

was Alexander Liberman’s The Artist in His

Studio1. At that time it only existed as a small,

black and white publication and so the vibrant

colours and varied surroundings of Picasso,

Chagall, and Matisse were lost in a grainy

fuzz of black and white. Many years later,

to my joy, they reissued it in a large format,

full colour edition2 that I still enjoy opening

at random and studying. Here is Kandinsky

in a neatly ordered room surrounded by his

wonderful abstractions. There is Fernand

Léger standing, with the rough demeanour

of a peasant farmer, in front of mural-sized

canvases of female acrobats and cone-hatted

clowns. And Giacometti, chain-smoking while

working though the night in his tiny studio.

In 1985 broadcaster Melvyn Bragg made one

of the most celebrated studio visits to the

cramped London quarters of Francis Bacon for

The South Bank Show3. The room is small and

messy as if every flat surface, horizontal or

vertical, is the artist’s palette. But what great

paintings grew from this tiny space.

Nathan Taylor:An Overviewfrom the Studio

When I flew to Hobart recently to visit Nathan

Taylor’s studio, I already knew his work well

from gallery and museum visits and from

reproductions. But I was keen to see where it

was created. And how it was created. I was

keen to meet the artist himself.

I found the white door next to the downtown

Hobart car rental office I’d been told to look

out for. The old Deco building was once an

ambulance call centre but is now the house

and studio of Wayne Brookes, Nathan’s

friend, studio landlord and former high school

teacher.

We navigate our way though Wayne’s world

of black rooms full of thousands of DVDs

and videos, of narrow corridors hung with

paintings of baroque interiors and lined with

book after book on art and artists.

1A. Liberman with a forward by James Thrall Soby, The Artist in his Studio, (Thames and Hudson, London, 1960) [a rather politically incorrect title, since Sonia Delauney, Natalie Gontcharova, and other great women artists appear amidst this mostly male pantheon]

2A. Liberman, The Artist in his Studio, (Thames and Hudson, London, rev. edn 1988)

3The South Bank Show, Melvyn Bragg with Francis Bacon (ITV, 9 June 1985)

18 19

And then we come to it. A small room off the

main corridor. Plastic insulates the windows

yet it still seems to be full of light. Jazz music

is playing in the background. A two bar heater

raises the temperature to a very pleasant level.

Nathan has kindly bought me a coffee and

arranged his work for me to view. Some of his

paintings rest on easels, others are wrapped in

polythene. On one wall research photographs

have been printed to an amazingly high

quality from a small, commercial printer that

sits beneath the window. Hanging above us

are two large drawings from one of his earlier

series. We talk about his upbringing, his time

at the art school in Hobart and about his

family. His father now makes the stretcher

boards that he works on. These are small in

scale, domestically speaking, but deliberately

cinematic in their dimensions. They give us a

wide-screen view of the flotsam and jetsam of

everyday life.

I’ve arrived at a very busy time in his personal

life. His second child has just been born and

his partner Jane broke her leg two days before

the birth. There have been some sleep-

interrupted nights, but he is now returning to

his favoured routine of ten hour days in the

studio.

“How long,” I ask, “does each painting take to

complete?”

“Usually about two months, if I work away at a

steady pace, six days a week.”

I had heard that there is a waiting list of

eighteen people wanting to buy work. This is

not surprising if you produce between six and

eight paintings in a year.

I was keen to see the tools of his trade. On

visits to Callum Innes’s studio in Scotland and

Jon Cattapan’s in Melbourne I noticed how

dozens of brushes of all shapes and sizes –

some thin and squirrel-haired, others flat as a

flounder for making broad-brush statements

– hung from the walls or were laid out neatly

on tables. Nathan’s tools were much more

minimal.

He took me across to the wooden table by

the window where he paints all his works

flat against its surface. “I use these,” he said,

producing one tiny brush cut at a diagonal

angle and not much bigger than might be

used to apply cosmetic eye-liner. An equally

small, white foam roller, no broader than a

matchbox, sat alongside it.

18 19

And then we come to it. A small room off the

main corridor. Plastic insulates the windows

yet it still seems to be full of light. Jazz music

is playing in the background. A two bar heater

raises the temperature to a very pleasant level.

Nathan has kindly bought me a coffee and

arranged his work for me to view. Some of his

paintings rest on easels, others are wrapped in

polythene. On one wall research photographs

have been printed to an amazingly high

quality from a small, commercial printer that

sits beneath the window. Hanging above us

are two large drawings from one of his earlier

series. We talk about his upbringing, his time

at the art school in Hobart and about his

family. His father now makes the stretcher

boards that he works on. These are small in

scale, domestically speaking, but deliberately

cinematic in their dimensions. They give us a

wide-screen view of the flotsam and jetsam of

everyday life.

I’ve arrived at a very busy time in his personal

life. His second child has just been born and

his partner Jane broke her leg two days before

the birth. There have been some sleep-

interrupted nights, but he is now returning to

his favoured routine of ten hour days in the

studio.

“How long,” I ask, “does each painting take to

complete?”

“Usually about two months, if I work away at a

steady pace, six days a week.”

I had heard that there is a waiting list of

eighteen people wanting to buy work. This is

not surprising if you produce between six and

eight paintings in a year.

I was keen to see the tools of his trade. On

visits to Callum Innes’s studio in Scotland and

Jon Cattapan’s in Melbourne I noticed how

dozens of brushes of all shapes and sizes –

some thin and squirrel-haired, others flat as a

flounder for making broad-brush statements

– hung from the walls or were laid out neatly

on tables. Nathan’s tools were much more

minimal.

He took me across to the wooden table by

the window where he paints all his works

flat against its surface. “I use these,” he said,

producing one tiny brush cut at a diagonal

angle and not much bigger than might be

used to apply cosmetic eye-liner. An equally

small, white foam roller, no broader than a

matchbox, sat alongside it.

20 21

With this pair of implements and the use

of acrylic paint and masking tape, Nathan

recreates human vision more accurately, and

far more slowly, than a camera.

But technique is only one half of the equation.

Balancing the final result is the all important

“content” of the work and the way it is framed

compositionally.

Much of our conversation hinges on ideas

of sustainability and conservation. We

speak about consumerism and its careless

handmaiden, waste. The photographs which

he takes, and which he now selects and has

blown up as artworks in their own right (often

bigger than the paintings) capture overflowing

rubbish bins with Styrofoam cups jutting out

at odd angles; orange peel lying in a gutter;

cigarette butts in an ashtray; crushed beer

cans; and an empty cardboard toilet roll

tube still in its holder. In the background the

skies are often blue, the grass is green and

manicured, and the traces of pleasure and

consumption are evident everywhere.

There is an honesty to his work that reflects

his concerns for the natural and manmade

environment. Yet he is aware of dichotomies.

He enjoys the universality of Hyperrealism

but insists it must be about more than just

documentation. Technical skills are only as

useful as the concepts and ideas that are

grafted on to them.

In his conversation with Emily Cloney [pages

7-15], Taylor remarks how ‘the hours, days

and months invested in each piece are

about breaking down the image to its bare

elements’. A key factor in this has been the

amazing advances in digital photography

which allow him to keep a huge archive of

his visual observations over the years with as

many as one hundred individual photographs

informing any one painting.

“At first it was mostly about the objects that

I was painting,” he says. “But then it became

more about the social responsibility of the

people who used, and then discarded, those

objects. I’m also interested in the brand

loyalties that people have. I mean, I don’t drink

fizzy drinks myself and rarely eat chocolate or

any of that stuff, but I notice how some people

will only drink Pepsi and others only Coke. It

becomes like a tribal thing.”

Nathan Taylor admires the work of many

other artists, mostly through seeing their

work in reproduction. There were, of course,

the original Photorealists – especially Robert

Bechtle, Ralph Goings, and Richard Estes

– but then also a range of Pop artists such

as James Rosenquist and David Hockney.

The multi-talented and highly experimental

Gerhard Richter was important to him, as was

the figurative (but contrastingly, very loosely

figurative) Eric Fischl.

As he developed his own very individual

technique, it was the lack of pretension that

he liked about the Photorealists. He admired

their ability to take a culture “addicted to

capitalism” and make an anti-capitalist

statement through using the everyday objects

of late 20th century life.

Many of these iconic works you never fully

understand until you see them “in the flesh”

and can get a sense of their physicality

and scale. This desire to “observe art at its

source” took him overseas to America and

Europe thanks to a Marten Bequest Travelling

Scholarship. The results of this extensive and

concentrated research trip are still feeding

into his work.

At home in Australia, he has a great respect

for a number of contemporary realist artists

including Juan Ford, Sam Jinks, Victoria

Reichelt, Jackson Slattery and Sam Leach.

Collectively they are a formidable crew, I

reflect, as I step back out into the reality of

Hobart’s CBD. They could form the core of a

very exciting exhibition.

Peter Hill

20 21

With this pair of implements and the use

of acrylic paint and masking tape, Nathan

recreates human vision more accurately, and

far more slowly, than a camera.

But technique is only one half of the equation.

Balancing the final result is the all important

“content” of the work and the way it is framed

compositionally.

Much of our conversation hinges on ideas

of sustainability and conservation. We

speak about consumerism and its careless

handmaiden, waste. The photographs which

he takes, and which he now selects and has

blown up as artworks in their own right (often

bigger than the paintings) capture overflowing

rubbish bins with Styrofoam cups jutting out

at odd angles; orange peel lying in a gutter;

cigarette butts in an ashtray; crushed beer

cans; and an empty cardboard toilet roll

tube still in its holder. In the background the

skies are often blue, the grass is green and

manicured, and the traces of pleasure and

consumption are evident everywhere.

There is an honesty to his work that reflects

his concerns for the natural and manmade

environment. Yet he is aware of dichotomies.

He enjoys the universality of Hyperrealism

but insists it must be about more than just

documentation. Technical skills are only as

useful as the concepts and ideas that are

grafted on to them.

In his conversation with Emily Cloney [pages

7-15], Taylor remarks how ‘the hours, days

and months invested in each piece are

about breaking down the image to its bare

elements’. A key factor in this has been the

amazing advances in digital photography

which allow him to keep a huge archive of

his visual observations over the years with as

many as one hundred individual photographs

informing any one painting.

“At first it was mostly about the objects that

I was painting,” he says. “But then it became

more about the social responsibility of the

people who used, and then discarded, those

objects. I’m also interested in the brand

loyalties that people have. I mean, I don’t drink

fizzy drinks myself and rarely eat chocolate or

any of that stuff, but I notice how some people

will only drink Pepsi and others only Coke. It

becomes like a tribal thing.”

Nathan Taylor admires the work of many

other artists, mostly through seeing their

work in reproduction. There were, of course,

the original Photorealists – especially Robert

Bechtle, Ralph Goings, and Richard Estes

– but then also a range of Pop artists such

as James Rosenquist and David Hockney.

The multi-talented and highly experimental

Gerhard Richter was important to him, as was

the figurative (but contrastingly, very loosely

figurative) Eric Fischl.

As he developed his own very individual

technique, it was the lack of pretension that

he liked about the Photorealists. He admired

their ability to take a culture “addicted to

capitalism” and make an anti-capitalist

statement through using the everyday objects

of late 20th century life.

Many of these iconic works you never fully

understand until you see them “in the flesh”

and can get a sense of their physicality

and scale. This desire to “observe art at its

source” took him overseas to America and

Europe thanks to a Marten Bequest Travelling

Scholarship. The results of this extensive and

concentrated research trip are still feeding

into his work.

At home in Australia, he has a great respect

for a number of contemporary realist artists

including Juan Ford, Sam Jinks, Victoria

Reichelt, Jackson Slattery and Sam Leach.

Collectively they are a formidable crew, I

reflect, as I step back out into the reality of

Hobart’s CBD. They could form the core of a

very exciting exhibition.

Peter Hill

EARLY WORK2001 - 2004

EARLY WORK2001 - 2004

24 25

These 2001 works explore aspects of the

everyday. Each image reflects on iconic

symbols of the Australian suburban makeup,

exploring the clichés of our national identity.

Each painting has a subtle narrative coaxed

though familiar symbols and objects.

Aesthetically each work offers an idealised

outlook through a saturated palette and

a nostalgic perspective. The work is

deliberately unchallenging and, at its surface,

naively optimistic. An effortless existence

is offered through strategies similar to that

adopted by advertising. Our celebrated

collective identity begins to appear shallow

where material possessions become iconic

and laziness rewarding.

Following on from objects that represent

our collective identity, my 2003 and 2004

work looks more closely at our domestic

environment and how objects dictate our

routines. A similar narrative is consistent

through the work, but a more personalised

touch is explored through a less idealised

aesthetic. A softer realism starts to creep

through with suggestions of wear, rust,

erosion and grime. There is still a sense of

familiarity but also the revealing of a beauty

trapped within the mundane. Nostalgia

is in turn replaced with narrative and the

experience becomes more personalised.

Focus shifts from the subject matter’s social

role to what is more immediate and personally

relevant.

Nathan Taylor

One more swing

2001

Acrylic on board

100 x 100 cm

24 25

These 2001 works explore aspects of the

everyday. Each image reflects on iconic

symbols of the Australian suburban makeup,

exploring the clichés of our national identity.

Each painting has a subtle narrative coaxed

though familiar symbols and objects.

Aesthetically each work offers an idealised

outlook through a saturated palette and

a nostalgic perspective. The work is

deliberately unchallenging and, at its surface,

naively optimistic. An effortless existence

is offered through strategies similar to that

adopted by advertising. Our celebrated

collective identity begins to appear shallow

where material possessions become iconic

and laziness rewarding.

Following on from objects that represent

our collective identity, my 2003 and 2004

work looks more closely at our domestic

environment and how objects dictate our

routines. A similar narrative is consistent

through the work, but a more personalised

touch is explored through a less idealised

aesthetic. A softer realism starts to creep

through with suggestions of wear, rust,

erosion and grime. There is still a sense of

familiarity but also the revealing of a beauty

trapped within the mundane. Nostalgia

is in turn replaced with narrative and the

experience becomes more personalised.

Focus shifts from the subject matter’s social

role to what is more immediate and personally

relevant.

Nathan Taylor

One more swing

2001

Acrylic on board

100 x 100 cm

26 27

Queen’s birthday

celebration

2001

Acrylic on board

100 x 100 cm

Victa trouble

2001

Acrylic on board

100 x 100 cm

26 27

Queen’s birthday

celebration

2001

Acrylic on board

100 x 100 cm

Victa trouble

2001

Acrylic on board

100 x 100 cm

28 29

Crease

2002

Acrylic on canvas board

45 x 35 cm

Kids stay free

2003

Acrylic on board

55 x 100 cm

28 29

Crease

2002

Acrylic on canvas board

45 x 35 cm

Kids stay free

2003

Acrylic on board

55 x 100 cm

30 31

Be my guest

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Business and pleasure

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

30 31

Be my guest

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Business and pleasure

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

32 33

Rest assured

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 90 cm

Home and hosed

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

32 33

Rest assured

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 90 cm

Home and hosed

2003

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

34 35

This moment still

2004

Acrylic on board

60 x 110 cm

My pleasure

2004

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

34 35

This moment still

2004

Acrylic on board

60 x 110 cm

My pleasure

2004

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

36 37

Wish you were here

2004

Acrylic on board

60 x 110 cm

Sticks and stones

2004

Acrylic on board

80 x 130 cm

36 37

Wish you were here

2004

Acrylic on board

60 x 110 cm

Sticks and stones

2004

Acrylic on board

80 x 130 cm

CONCRETE POETICS2005

CONCRETE POETICS2005

40 41

The objects that clutter our urban

environment are slowly worn down by a

repetitious social rhythm. Their subtle

presence becomes second nature yet they

are at the core of dictating social norms.

Each of these paintings looks at various

social addictions or rituals. A petrol bowser

standing defiant after years of religious

use; a shopping trolley left abandoned and

exhausted; a pub urinal that relentlessly drips

and never sleeps.

All these objects are part of a consumption-

based society, passively serving when

required. We remain oblivious to their

importance and to our dependence on them

until they are taken away.

A lot of these paintings are influenced by

issues addressed in the media, such as oil

ownership in Iraq, obesity, problem gambling

and an inflated real estate market.

Nathan Taylor

In your best interests

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

40 41

The objects that clutter our urban

environment are slowly worn down by a

repetitious social rhythm. Their subtle

presence becomes second nature yet they

are at the core of dictating social norms.

Each of these paintings looks at various

social addictions or rituals. A petrol bowser

standing defiant after years of religious

use; a shopping trolley left abandoned and

exhausted; a pub urinal that relentlessly drips

and never sleeps.

All these objects are part of a consumption-

based society, passively serving when

required. We remain oblivious to their

importance and to our dependence on them

until they are taken away.

A lot of these paintings are influenced by

issues addressed in the media, such as oil

ownership in Iraq, obesity, problem gambling

and an inflated real estate market.

Nathan Taylor

In your best interests

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

42 43

Nathan Taylor’s paintings seduce the viewer.

Direct quotation from life is articulated

through an acute understanding of pictorial

grammar and punctuation releasing ‘music’

from mundane forms. In his seemingly ‘found’

compositions there is something akin to the

‘concrete poetry’ practised by E.E. Cummings

and Ezra Pound. Like them, Taylor lifts tired

signifiers of the domestic into a more rarefied

realm through his compositions. The rhythm

and rhyme of everyday objects create ballad-

like structures of complex but restrained

emotion - or as the artist suggests - of the

‘sensual and nostalgic’. This is the first stage

of the romance.

Secondly, this ‘melody’ of the work is also an

underlying pulse, a foot-tapping metre that

acts as a fluid counterpoint to the rigid, dense

objects depicted. Dumb, mute objects, often

representative of a certain age or era, radiate

their significance as the building blocks of the

‘civilised’ world we inhabit. Yet these are not

dusty relics in an op shop or the discarded

citizens of the refuse tip but rather they have

been worn smooth by use, patinated by the

attentions of routine. They are pre-loved and

we, as viewers, are invited to love them too.

Taylor’s act of painting functions at yet

another level of this devotional, organicising,

entropic – and perhaps even erotic - touch.

His works are not a direct cast or ‘death-

mask’ of the objects as in a Barthes’ reading

of photography. Contours are modelled

patiently yet are very slightly more blurred;

colours and tones are translated authentically

but subtly shifted into closer harmonies and

nearer relationships. Through their ‘use’ by

the painter’s eye the objects are minimally

reduced and worn-down.

One has the feeling that Taylor is drawn to a

certain order of urban object and he invites

us to fill them through contemplation with

projected meaning. They are often literally

empty (or only temporarily full) awaiting our

investment. Shopping trolleys and irons, petrol

pumps and syrup-dispensers – each functions,

in part, as a vehicle or vessel for our displaced

drives (in a Freudian sense) as well as for our

fragile concept of society.

As Taylor acknowledges, “I think that looking

closer at ourselves on a domestic level helps

create a greater awareness at a universal one”.

Concrete Poetics

With friends like these

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

42 43

Nathan Taylor’s paintings seduce the viewer.

Direct quotation from life is articulated

through an acute understanding of pictorial

grammar and punctuation releasing ‘music’

from mundane forms. In his seemingly ‘found’

compositions there is something akin to the

‘concrete poetry’ practised by E.E. Cummings

and Ezra Pound. Like them, Taylor lifts tired

signifiers of the domestic into a more rarefied

realm through his compositions. The rhythm

and rhyme of everyday objects create ballad-

like structures of complex but restrained

emotion - or as the artist suggests - of the

‘sensual and nostalgic’. This is the first stage

of the romance.

Secondly, this ‘melody’ of the work is also an

underlying pulse, a foot-tapping metre that

acts as a fluid counterpoint to the rigid, dense

objects depicted. Dumb, mute objects, often

representative of a certain age or era, radiate

their significance as the building blocks of the

‘civilised’ world we inhabit. Yet these are not

dusty relics in an op shop or the discarded

citizens of the refuse tip but rather they have

been worn smooth by use, patinated by the

attentions of routine. They are pre-loved and

we, as viewers, are invited to love them too.

Taylor’s act of painting functions at yet

another level of this devotional, organicising,

entropic – and perhaps even erotic - touch.

His works are not a direct cast or ‘death-

mask’ of the objects as in a Barthes’ reading

of photography. Contours are modelled

patiently yet are very slightly more blurred;

colours and tones are translated authentically

but subtly shifted into closer harmonies and

nearer relationships. Through their ‘use’ by

the painter’s eye the objects are minimally

reduced and worn-down.

One has the feeling that Taylor is drawn to a

certain order of urban object and he invites

us to fill them through contemplation with

projected meaning. They are often literally

empty (or only temporarily full) awaiting our

investment. Shopping trolleys and irons, petrol

pumps and syrup-dispensers – each functions,

in part, as a vehicle or vessel for our displaced

drives (in a Freudian sense) as well as for our

fragile concept of society.

As Taylor acknowledges, “I think that looking

closer at ourselves on a domestic level helps

create a greater awareness at a universal one”.

Concrete Poetics

With friends like these

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

44 45

His titles - With friends like these; One size fits

all - also implicitly refer to this wider cultural

spectrum but with the black-tinged humour

of Ed Ruscha. However, unlike the American,

there is perspicacity not pessimism in his

tone. Taylor states that he is “fascinated with

Australian culture and our never-ending ability

to endure irony and self-criticism.” His clear-

eyed refusal to panic, to have faith in what

is ‘real’ and of value is, in the final analysis,

perhaps a timely message for us all.

Kit Wise, 2005

In the first place

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

44 45

His titles - With friends like these; One size fits

all - also implicitly refer to this wider cultural

spectrum but with the black-tinged humour

of Ed Ruscha. However, unlike the American,

there is perspicacity not pessimism in his

tone. Taylor states that he is “fascinated with

Australian culture and our never-ending ability

to endure irony and self-criticism.” His clear-

eyed refusal to panic, to have faith in what

is ‘real’ and of value is, in the final analysis,

perhaps a timely message for us all.

Kit Wise, 2005

In the first place

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

46 47

From little things

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

One size fits all

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

46 47

From little things

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

One size fits all

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

48 49

Open all hours

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

In the long run

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

48 49

Open all hours

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

In the long run

2005

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

50 51

At all costs

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Return to sender

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

50 51

At all costs

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Return to sender

2005

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

MELBOURNE ART FAIR2006

MELBOURNE ART FAIR2006

54 55

This series of paintings explores Australian

consumerism through discarded objects. By

changing their social context they become

an iconography of society’s throwaways.

Exploring ourselves at a domestic level

helps us better to understand how our direct

surroundings influence and sculpt our society

and reveals the elements masking our own

unique Australian identity and culture base.

Familiar subject matter creates an

accessibility which offers an alternative

perspective of our domestic environment

- an environment which is so familiar yet

surprisingly uncharted. Our domestic

blindness is broken down to reveal an

aesthetic alternative and our mundane urban

surroundings become sensual and nostalgic.

These paintings challenge the socio-political,

commercial and personal meaning of

‘functional’ objects. Whether the objects

depicted are viewed as domestic and

operational - dysfunctional by their context

- or discarded and estranged from their

domesticity, their unsettled presence compels

the viewer to re-evaluate fundamental aspects

of our material and immaterial worlds.

Nathan Taylor

Out of order

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

54 55

This series of paintings explores Australian

consumerism through discarded objects. By

changing their social context they become

an iconography of society’s throwaways.

Exploring ourselves at a domestic level

helps us better to understand how our direct

surroundings influence and sculpt our society

and reveals the elements masking our own

unique Australian identity and culture base.

Familiar subject matter creates an

accessibility which offers an alternative

perspective of our domestic environment

- an environment which is so familiar yet

surprisingly uncharted. Our domestic

blindness is broken down to reveal an

aesthetic alternative and our mundane urban

surroundings become sensual and nostalgic.

These paintings challenge the socio-political,

commercial and personal meaning of

‘functional’ objects. Whether the objects

depicted are viewed as domestic and

operational - dysfunctional by their context

- or discarded and estranged from their

domesticity, their unsettled presence compels

the viewer to re-evaluate fundamental aspects

of our material and immaterial worlds.

Nathan Taylor

Out of order

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

56 57

Next to godliness

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

First come, first serve

2006

Acrylic on board

75 x 150 cm

56 57

Next to godliness

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

First come, first serve

2006

Acrylic on board

75 x 150 cm

58 59

Leading the blind

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

Use only as directed

2006

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

58 59

Leading the blind

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

Use only as directed

2006

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

60

Come to terms

2006

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

60

Come to terms

2006

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

THE SUBURBAN VERNACULAR2006 - 2007

THE SUBURBAN VERNACULAR2006 - 2007

64 65

This series of paintings surveys common

aspects of the suburban environment through

familiar objects. Reinterpreting suburban

language through the commonplace helps

to break down our domestic blindness. As a

result an aesthetic alternative emerges. Focus

begins to shift between the object’s habitual

disposition and that which is more personally

alluring for the viewer.

It is increasingly important in my work to

study the personal relationships we maintain

with our domestic objects, rituals and urban

surroundings, and how these objects help

to sculpt our society. This series has drawn

inspiration from both local and international

sources. By examining the subtle similarities

and differences between these environments,

I hope to focus on the core elements that

fashion each unique domestic make-up.

Ultimately I would like to share my own

appreciation for the beauty trapped within

the mundane, revealing how the fabric of our

domestic environment subtly influences our

daily routine.

In 2006 I embarked on an overseas research

project made possible through the Marten

Bequest Travelling Scholarship. During my

research trip I visited New York, Paris, Venice,

Florence, Rome and London to visit galleries

and absorb art from its source. My research

focused on movements that have influenced

my practice, in particular Baroque and

Renaissance paintings, still lifes by the Dutch

artists of the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries, and the work of Photorealist artists.

I also used the opportunity to research each

city’s unique domestic make-up through

an extensive photographic survey. These

photos have become a source of inspiration

in the compositional development for this

series. I have juxtaposed the more subtle

environments of the European and American

compositions against the more harsh and

bright compositions sourced from Australia.

This draws attention to the subtle similarities

and differences between our domestic

environments revealing what makes each

space unique and important.

Nathan Taylor

By appointment only

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

64 65

This series of paintings surveys common

aspects of the suburban environment through

familiar objects. Reinterpreting suburban

language through the commonplace helps

to break down our domestic blindness. As a

result an aesthetic alternative emerges. Focus

begins to shift between the object’s habitual

disposition and that which is more personally

alluring for the viewer.

It is increasingly important in my work to

study the personal relationships we maintain

with our domestic objects, rituals and urban

surroundings, and how these objects help

to sculpt our society. This series has drawn

inspiration from both local and international

sources. By examining the subtle similarities

and differences between these environments,

I hope to focus on the core elements that

fashion each unique domestic make-up.

Ultimately I would like to share my own

appreciation for the beauty trapped within

the mundane, revealing how the fabric of our

domestic environment subtly influences our

daily routine.

In 2006 I embarked on an overseas research

project made possible through the Marten

Bequest Travelling Scholarship. During my

research trip I visited New York, Paris, Venice,

Florence, Rome and London to visit galleries

and absorb art from its source. My research

focused on movements that have influenced

my practice, in particular Baroque and

Renaissance paintings, still lifes by the Dutch

artists of the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries, and the work of Photorealist artists.

I also used the opportunity to research each

city’s unique domestic make-up through

an extensive photographic survey. These

photos have become a source of inspiration

in the compositional development for this

series. I have juxtaposed the more subtle

environments of the European and American

compositions against the more harsh and

bright compositions sourced from Australia.

This draws attention to the subtle similarities

and differences between our domestic

environments revealing what makes each

space unique and important.

Nathan Taylor

By appointment only

2006

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

66 67

Through the eye of the gnat the world

becomes engorged; a place of gigantic artifice

with gargantuan temples of obscure beliefs.

The massive site of prayer depicted in One

for the team exudes the sense of a sacred site

with the remnants of sacraments left behind

by an ancient civilization; as imposing as the

Inca ruins – deserted and haunted.

To say that Nathan Taylor sees the world

from a unique perspective would be an

understatement. In the opening scenes of the

David Lynch film Blue Velvet, we emerge from

the morass of teeming life beneath the surface

of a suburban lawn. The clear implication is

the hidden threat beneath the everyday - that

we should learn to expect the unexpected. It

is this strangeness of perspective that Taylor

serves up; finding the codes in the arbitrary

detritus that he serves us.

When Taylor was in Europe the Cold War

returned with a vengeance. In To say the least

we can almost hear the ghastly crackle of

a broken line. Why has the phone been left

off the hook? It is an image that strangely

evokes both the end of the world and the

narrative of some horrendous misadventure.

In another picture initially composed in

Europe, On the safe side, Taylor creates a still

life in which remarkably archaic electric plugs

flank a stainless steel jug. In his European

pictures the mood is melancholic, one of

lonely hotel rooms and dilapidated, time-worn

environments.

Taylor is extraordinarily sensitive to colour.

In these works we shift from the muted

tones of Europe to the surreal fluorescence

of Manhattan through to the blazing skies of

the Antipodes. In each case there is a shift

of palette and tone creating an atmosphere

unique to each environment; the melancholy

Europe, the artifice of New York, the

boisterous Australia.

Suburban Vernacular

No love lost

2006

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

66 67

Through the eye of the gnat the world

becomes engorged; a place of gigantic artifice

with gargantuan temples of obscure beliefs.

The massive site of prayer depicted in One

for the team exudes the sense of a sacred site

with the remnants of sacraments left behind

by an ancient civilization; as imposing as the

Inca ruins – deserted and haunted.

To say that Nathan Taylor sees the world

from a unique perspective would be an

understatement. In the opening scenes of the

David Lynch film Blue Velvet, we emerge from

the morass of teeming life beneath the surface

of a suburban lawn. The clear implication is

the hidden threat beneath the everyday - that

we should learn to expect the unexpected. It

is this strangeness of perspective that Taylor

serves up; finding the codes in the arbitrary

detritus that he serves us.

When Taylor was in Europe the Cold War

returned with a vengeance. In To say the least

we can almost hear the ghastly crackle of

a broken line. Why has the phone been left

off the hook? It is an image that strangely

evokes both the end of the world and the

narrative of some horrendous misadventure.

In another picture initially composed in

Europe, On the safe side, Taylor creates a still

life in which remarkably archaic electric plugs

flank a stainless steel jug. In his European

pictures the mood is melancholic, one of

lonely hotel rooms and dilapidated, time-worn

environments.

Taylor is extraordinarily sensitive to colour.

In these works we shift from the muted

tones of Europe to the surreal fluorescence

of Manhattan through to the blazing skies of

the Antipodes. In each case there is a shift

of palette and tone creating an atmosphere

unique to each environment; the melancholy

Europe, the artifice of New York, the

boisterous Australia.

Suburban Vernacular

No love lost

2006

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

68 69

Taylor pays homage to Gotham. One is

tempted to imagine that he was actually

sitting at the counter, gazing blankly at the

diningware, in Phillies Diner as depicted

in Edward Hopper’s famous 1942 painting

Nighthawks. In No love lost Taylor’s detailed

mis en scène captures the same strange

nostalgia and timelessness as Hopper’s

painting. In a strange way Taylor has rendered

a portrait of the soul of a city through the

most utilitarian of objects; a massive sugar

jar, a knife and fork, salt and pepper shakers, a

dispenser of Sweet ’n’ Low – for some reason

it is simply and unarguably Manhattan.

The mundane in Taylor’s work acts as a

metaphor for a sense of place. In Australia

a crushed beer can, a split cricket ball and a

tattered lawn chair in One for the team become

icons. Rendered from a gnat’s perspective

they become as immense and iconic as the

Pyramids. In No rest for the wicked the humble

lawnmower becomes a monstrous, if battered,

industrial behemoth.

Whereas Taylor’s European and New

York imagery with its muted colours is

claustrophobic and internalized, his Australian

images move to the wide spaces of the great

outdoors – or at least the suburban version

thereof. The skies in One for the team and No

rest for the wicked are the blazing ultramarine

that can be found nowhere else in the world

and the trees have the dusty patina that is

unique to Australian flora.

However that trend is broken in Count your

blessings; a painting that, despite its innocuous

content, screams threat and looming disaster

as two fire extinguishers sit next to electrical

wiring, languishing in the corner of some

basement. The bright red of their enamelled

surfaces, pitted and dusty, suggests the

moment before sheer panic.

To say the least

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

68 69

Taylor pays homage to Gotham. One is

tempted to imagine that he was actually

sitting at the counter, gazing blankly at the

diningware, in Phillies Diner as depicted

in Edward Hopper’s famous 1942 painting

Nighthawks. In No love lost Taylor’s detailed

mis en scène captures the same strange

nostalgia and timelessness as Hopper’s

painting. In a strange way Taylor has rendered

a portrait of the soul of a city through the

most utilitarian of objects; a massive sugar

jar, a knife and fork, salt and pepper shakers, a

dispenser of Sweet ’n’ Low – for some reason

it is simply and unarguably Manhattan.

The mundane in Taylor’s work acts as a

metaphor for a sense of place. In Australia

a crushed beer can, a split cricket ball and a

tattered lawn chair in One for the team become

icons. Rendered from a gnat’s perspective

they become as immense and iconic as the

Pyramids. In No rest for the wicked the humble

lawnmower becomes a monstrous, if battered,

industrial behemoth.

Whereas Taylor’s European and New

York imagery with its muted colours is

claustrophobic and internalized, his Australian

images move to the wide spaces of the great

outdoors – or at least the suburban version

thereof. The skies in One for the team and No

rest for the wicked are the blazing ultramarine

that can be found nowhere else in the world

and the trees have the dusty patina that is

unique to Australian flora.

However that trend is broken in Count your

blessings; a painting that, despite its innocuous

content, screams threat and looming disaster

as two fire extinguishers sit next to electrical

wiring, languishing in the corner of some

basement. The bright red of their enamelled

surfaces, pitted and dusty, suggests the

moment before sheer panic.

To say the least

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

70 71

While Taylor brings a wonderful sense of

humour - captured so clearly by his titles

- to these laboriously executed images, it

is impossible not to miss the fact that his

world is depopulated. There is an unnatural

hush to these works – the lawnmower is left

unattended, the lawn chair is vacant, the

silence in the New York diner is palpable.

There is a distinct pathos and melancholy

to the discarded shopping trolley in By

appointment only. Taylor’s objects, so everyday

and so mundane, suddenly become symbols

of a lost time, like memories or tears in the

rain - things from the past almost forgotten.

What is remarkable about these paintings is

that Taylor is largely self-taught. He emerged

during a time when young artists were told

that painting was dead, no longer relevant in

the postmodern world. It is intriguing that a

new generation is so virulently opposed to

that once-fashionable position. Such artists as

Chris Bond, Sam Leach, Juan Ford and Nathan

Taylor are proving that painting is far from

dead. Indeed, like the phoenix rising from the

ashes, painting is alive and well.

Ashley Crawford, 2007

No rest for the wicked

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

70 71

While Taylor brings a wonderful sense of

humour - captured so clearly by his titles

- to these laboriously executed images, it

is impossible not to miss the fact that his

world is depopulated. There is an unnatural

hush to these works – the lawnmower is left

unattended, the lawn chair is vacant, the

silence in the New York diner is palpable.

There is a distinct pathos and melancholy

to the discarded shopping trolley in By

appointment only. Taylor’s objects, so everyday

and so mundane, suddenly become symbols

of a lost time, like memories or tears in the

rain - things from the past almost forgotten.

What is remarkable about these paintings is

that Taylor is largely self-taught. He emerged

during a time when young artists were told

that painting was dead, no longer relevant in

the postmodern world. It is intriguing that a

new generation is so virulently opposed to

that once-fashionable position. Such artists as

Chris Bond, Sam Leach, Juan Ford and Nathan

Taylor are proving that painting is far from

dead. Indeed, like the phoenix rising from the

ashes, painting is alive and well.

Ashley Crawford, 2007

No rest for the wicked

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

72 73

On the safe side

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

One for the team

2007

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

72 73

On the safe side

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

One for the team

2007

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

74 75

Count your blessings

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Safety in numbers

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

74 75

Count your blessings

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Safety in numbers

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

76

By the way

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

76

By the way

2007

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

PORTRAITS: NEW DRAWINGS2007

PORTRAITS: NEW DRAWINGS2007

80 81

This series of drawings was inspired from

a David Hockney exhibition that I saw at

the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The exhibition was devoted entirely to his

portraits, spanning over fifty years: self-

portraits, portraits of family, lovers, friends

and well-known artists and socialites.

These works embodied an important visual

representation of his artistic influences and

obsessions. Each subject was an important

authority in Hockney’s life; his relationship to

the subject revealed through the intimacy of

portraiture.

I responded strongly to the idea of paying

tribute to the people who have influenced

me both personally and artistically: family

members, friends, my partner, fellow artists

and peers. Through portraiture I wanted

to explore each of the subject’s individual

characteristics, drawing out the subtle

gestures which compose their person.

Through this series of drawings I want to

convey how the people who make up my

life are endlessly influential to my artistic

direction.

Nathan Taylor

David Edgar

2007

Pastel on paper

93.5 x 70.5 cm

80 81

This series of drawings was inspired from

a David Hockney exhibition that I saw at

the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The exhibition was devoted entirely to his

portraits, spanning over fifty years: self-

portraits, portraits of family, lovers, friends

and well-known artists and socialites.

These works embodied an important visual

representation of his artistic influences and

obsessions. Each subject was an important

authority in Hockney’s life; his relationship to

the subject revealed through the intimacy of

portraiture.

I responded strongly to the idea of paying

tribute to the people who have influenced

me both personally and artistically: family

members, friends, my partner, fellow artists

and peers. Through portraiture I wanted

to explore each of the subject’s individual

characteristics, drawing out the subtle

gestures which compose their person.

Through this series of drawings I want to

convey how the people who make up my

life are endlessly influential to my artistic

direction.

Nathan Taylor

David Edgar

2007

Pastel on paper

93.5 x 70.5 cm

82 83

The relationship between painting and

drawing has its own mythological and

historical tradition. As a structural foundation,

drawing’s role was that of a map that

anchored the masterpiece. The ‘mark’

represents the beginning of the adventure

for the artist as it follows the parable of how

drawing was invented. According to Pliny the

Elder’s first century tale, a Corinthian maiden,

wanting a memento of her lover, traced his

silhouette on the wall from his shadow.

Nathan Taylor has always offered us an

absolute reflection of reality. The familiar

devices of everyday life are rendered with

such virtuosity that he elevates them to the

status of precious objects. The alchemist in

him turns the lawnmower or the Hills Hoist

into a national treasure. They become ‘brick

Vermeers’ with such masterful surfaces

that enlighten us to the paradise of chrome,

corrosion and coffee percolators. He is the

maestro of the suburban appliance with

domestic devices attaining iconic status

within his scrutiny. His skill requires absolute

knowledge of the object. Just as Leonardo

used drawing to catalogue his world, Taylor

uses it as a kind of instruction booklet to

describe its essence. But while this structure

is hidden from view beneath the surface of the

paint, Taylor also possesses equal command

of this discipline as a more expressive option.

Portraits:New drawings

Bill Taylor

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2008

82 83

The relationship between painting and

drawing has its own mythological and

historical tradition. As a structural foundation,

drawing’s role was that of a map that

anchored the masterpiece. The ‘mark’

represents the beginning of the adventure

for the artist as it follows the parable of how

drawing was invented. According to Pliny the

Elder’s first century tale, a Corinthian maiden,

wanting a memento of her lover, traced his

silhouette on the wall from his shadow.

Nathan Taylor has always offered us an

absolute reflection of reality. The familiar

devices of everyday life are rendered with

such virtuosity that he elevates them to the

status of precious objects. The alchemist in

him turns the lawnmower or the Hills Hoist

into a national treasure. They become ‘brick

Vermeers’ with such masterful surfaces

that enlighten us to the paradise of chrome,

corrosion and coffee percolators. He is the

maestro of the suburban appliance with

domestic devices attaining iconic status

within his scrutiny. His skill requires absolute

knowledge of the object. Just as Leonardo

used drawing to catalogue his world, Taylor

uses it as a kind of instruction booklet to

describe its essence. But while this structure

is hidden from view beneath the surface of the

paint, Taylor also possesses equal command

of this discipline as a more expressive option.

Portraits:New drawings

Bill Taylor

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2008

84 85

Although Taylor’s paintings contain the

effigies of hardware life, his drawings are the

language of an alternative universe. This is

both the world of the figure and the world of

people. However, much like the fragments

of a private Film Noir, his heavily cropped,

dramatic, tenebrist images from 1999 and

2002 revealed a more sinuous style, much like

‘Organic Mannerism’. Yes, the objects were

passionately executed, but here he sought the

substance of the portrait from beneath the

surface. The skin, the fabric, the object were

all unified within his fluid application of the

pastel.

With his current drawings, Nathan has

evolved and edited his obsessive modes.

While the avid autobiography of his previous

work has morphed into a more objective

rationale, his choice of material still represents

a satellite selection of associates within his

life. His gallerist, his partner, his family and

fellow artists, are all a hovering echelon within

his practice. But here, his previous penchant

for theatre is denuded; clearly now he cuts

to the chase, no longer distracted by all the

ancillary, delicious surfaces that contained or

framed the persona. He mines his subjects to

expose what is essentially within them.

Gill Taylor

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm

84 85

Although Taylor’s paintings contain the

effigies of hardware life, his drawings are the

language of an alternative universe. This is

both the world of the figure and the world of

people. However, much like the fragments

of a private Film Noir, his heavily cropped,

dramatic, tenebrist images from 1999 and

2002 revealed a more sinuous style, much like

‘Organic Mannerism’. Yes, the objects were

passionately executed, but here he sought the

substance of the portrait from beneath the

surface. The skin, the fabric, the object were

all unified within his fluid application of the

pastel.

With his current drawings, Nathan has

evolved and edited his obsessive modes.

While the avid autobiography of his previous

work has morphed into a more objective

rationale, his choice of material still represents

a satellite selection of associates within his

life. His gallerist, his partner, his family and

fellow artists, are all a hovering echelon within

his practice. But here, his previous penchant

for theatre is denuded; clearly now he cuts

to the chase, no longer distracted by all the

ancillary, delicious surfaces that contained or

framed the persona. He mines his subjects to

expose what is essentially within them.

Gill Taylor

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm

86 87

Here is a commitment to the individual, the

personality and not just the authentic facade.

Each character is identified within a single

homogenous, if not spontaneous gesture, a

fragment in time that somehow encapsulates

a defining moment for that entity. The

fumbling with spectacles, the sighing between

sentences, the guffaw, are all indicative of

the subtle nuance of their being. This, much

like Pliny’s Corinthian maiden, is essentially

Taylor’s own unique tracing of memory.

Wayne Brookes, 2007

Wayne Brookes

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Tasmanian Youth Portraiture Prize 2008 and as part of the City of Hobart Art Prize 2009

86 87

Here is a commitment to the individual, the

personality and not just the authentic facade.

Each character is identified within a single

homogenous, if not spontaneous gesture, a

fragment in time that somehow encapsulates

a defining moment for that entity. The

fumbling with spectacles, the sighing between

sentences, the guffaw, are all indicative of

the subtle nuance of their being. This, much

like Pliny’s Corinthian maiden, is essentially

Taylor’s own unique tracing of memory.

Wayne Brookes, 2007

Wayne Brookes

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Tasmanian Youth Portraiture Prize 2008 and as part of the City of Hobart Art Prize 2009

88 89

Jane Barlow

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm

Bree Mooney

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm

88 89

Jane Barlow

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm

Bree Mooney

2007

Pastel on paper

70.5 x 93.5 cm

90

Dale Richards

2007

Pastel on paper

93.5 x 70.5 cm

90

Dale Richards

2007

Pastel on paper

93.5 x 70.5 cm

CULTURE MADE EASY2008

CULTURE MADE EASY2008

94 95

A quick glance at elements of our suburban

language immediately reveals how our society

is trapped within a cycle of disposable culture,

addicted to consumerism. As our moral and

social values become victim to this addiction

our social fabric is desensitised through a

new modern commercial philosophy. This

breakdown begins to question the direction

of Australia’s social identity and the slow

corrosion of the once celebrated ‘Australian

dream’.

Why are we rewarded for spending and why

are we judged by our wealth and possessions?

The notion of value has been lost, replaced

with a price tag. Capitalism rewards those

who nourish it and eliminates those who

don’t.

This series of paintings explores the subtle

decay of contemporary Australian culture

by examining snapshots of our suburban

and regional landscape. By examining the

objects that dictate our social addictions

and claustrophobic routines, I hope to raise

questions about our cultural and historical

identity.

Domestic apathy and blindness is revealed

through uncovering the hidden desires and

overlooked aesthetic perceptions of ordinary

objects. By shifting the conventional context

of the everyday, an underlying sense of unease

is revealed, strangely paralleled by feelings of

nostalgia. The inanimate becomes significant

and the anonymous, intimate.

As the conventional ‘Australian Dream’

continues to fuel its own demise, I offer an

insight into the elements and behaviour that

have forged this fate and help seed ideas that

will aid in a sustainable future.

Nathan Taylor

Close to home

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

94 95

A quick glance at elements of our suburban

language immediately reveals how our society

is trapped within a cycle of disposable culture,

addicted to consumerism. As our moral and

social values become victim to this addiction

our social fabric is desensitised through a

new modern commercial philosophy. This

breakdown begins to question the direction

of Australia’s social identity and the slow

corrosion of the once celebrated ‘Australian

dream’.

Why are we rewarded for spending and why

are we judged by our wealth and possessions?

The notion of value has been lost, replaced

with a price tag. Capitalism rewards those

who nourish it and eliminates those who

don’t.

This series of paintings explores the subtle

decay of contemporary Australian culture

by examining snapshots of our suburban

and regional landscape. By examining the

objects that dictate our social addictions

and claustrophobic routines, I hope to raise

questions about our cultural and historical

identity.

Domestic apathy and blindness is revealed

through uncovering the hidden desires and

overlooked aesthetic perceptions of ordinary

objects. By shifting the conventional context

of the everyday, an underlying sense of unease

is revealed, strangely paralleled by feelings of

nostalgia. The inanimate becomes significant

and the anonymous, intimate.

As the conventional ‘Australian Dream’

continues to fuel its own demise, I offer an

insight into the elements and behaviour that

have forged this fate and help seed ideas that

will aid in a sustainable future.

Nathan Taylor

Close to home

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

96 97

Priced to clear

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Metro Art Award 2008

Make ends meet

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

96 97

Priced to clear

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Metro Art Award 2008

Make ends meet

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

98 99

Beyond the pale

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Subject to finance

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

98 99

Beyond the pale

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Subject to finance

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

100 101

On the bright side

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Bare with me

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

100 101

On the bright side

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Bare with me

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

HOMESICK2008 - 2009

HOMESICK2008 - 2009

104 105

The familiar and commonplace objects

that populate our domestic and urban

environments have evolved to signify our

consumer-based contemporary culture.

Consequently, everyday objects take on

iconographic significance, representing social

worth, wealth, personality and beliefs.

This series explores objects within public and

private surroundings, revealing habitual or

ritualistic associations. There is a collective

sense of a banal familiarity, but also the draw

of a personal narrative - each work depicting

notions of intimacy and displacement.

Homesickness is drawn from nostalgia, the

longing for an idealised past. An object or

space becomes a memory trigger, a physical

reminder of a moment in time. These

paintings examine this contemporary role of

the object and how its projected social value

influences our feeling of security, satisfaction

and purpose - elements which constitute a

sense of place, of being home.

Nathan Taylor

Blessing in disguise

2008

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

104 105

The familiar and commonplace objects

that populate our domestic and urban

environments have evolved to signify our

consumer-based contemporary culture.

Consequently, everyday objects take on

iconographic significance, representing social

worth, wealth, personality and beliefs.

This series explores objects within public and

private surroundings, revealing habitual or

ritualistic associations. There is a collective

sense of a banal familiarity, but also the draw

of a personal narrative - each work depicting

notions of intimacy and displacement.

Homesickness is drawn from nostalgia, the

longing for an idealised past. An object or

space becomes a memory trigger, a physical

reminder of a moment in time. These

paintings examine this contemporary role of

the object and how its projected social value

influences our feeling of security, satisfaction

and purpose - elements which constitute a

sense of place, of being home.

Nathan Taylor

Blessing in disguise

2008

Acrylic on board

60 x 120 cm

106 107

Taken to heart

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Force of habit

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

106 107

Taken to heart

2008

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Force of habit

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

108 109

Learn your lesson

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Never the less

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

108 109

Learn your lesson

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Never the less

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

110 111

Cut your losses

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Once in a while

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

110 111

Cut your losses

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Once in a while

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

112

Good things come

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

112

Good things come

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

DEAD TO THE WORLD2009 - 2010

DEAD TO THE WORLD2009 - 2010

116 117

This series of paintings surveys our common

urban environment, drawing out the anxiety of

the familiar and revealing the blind nature in

which modern society functions.

Today’s consumption-based rituals speak of

a culture addicted to a disposable lifestyle.

Our contemporary cultural identity has

been moulded through the saturation of

iconic branding and popularised marketing

Individuality is substituted for fashion-based

consumables.

Painting provides an objective platform

for critical analysis into otherwise

mundane objects and scenery, coupled

with a deliberately composed aesthetic. A

subtle narrative draws on intimacy and

displacement, speaking directly to the viewer.

This tension then compels the viewer to

begin questioning their preconceived social

associations with the subject matter. Insight

into seemingly innocent objects intensifies,

shifting to symbolise points of cultural and

personal scrutiny.

Addressing these current social issues and

capturing the decay of this corruptive cycle

reveals its deepening impact on our future

identity. This important new role of the object

challenges our personal, social and cultural

values invested within an addictive disposable

routine.

Nathan Taylor

Off the record

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

116 117

This series of paintings surveys our common

urban environment, drawing out the anxiety of

the familiar and revealing the blind nature in

which modern society functions.

Today’s consumption-based rituals speak of

a culture addicted to a disposable lifestyle.

Our contemporary cultural identity has

been moulded through the saturation of

iconic branding and popularised marketing

Individuality is substituted for fashion-based

consumables.

Painting provides an objective platform

for critical analysis into otherwise

mundane objects and scenery, coupled

with a deliberately composed aesthetic. A

subtle narrative draws on intimacy and

displacement, speaking directly to the viewer.

This tension then compels the viewer to

begin questioning their preconceived social

associations with the subject matter. Insight

into seemingly innocent objects intensifies,

shifting to symbolise points of cultural and

personal scrutiny.

Addressing these current social issues and

capturing the decay of this corruptive cycle

reveals its deepening impact on our future

identity. This important new role of the object

challenges our personal, social and cultural

values invested within an addictive disposable

routine.

Nathan Taylor

Off the record

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

118 119

The more problems the visual world throws in

the path of Nathan Taylor, the more he solves

them and comes back to ask for more. The

crinkled cellophane from a cigarette packet?

No problem, he can paint that. Would you like

a row of terraced houses reflected across its

warped surface? A piece of green chewing

gum, screwed up like an alien brain? Here

it is, the size of a peanut. A couple making

love, reflected in the hubcap of a car, or in an

overturned beer glass? Taylor paints them so

small you hardly notice them noticing you.

‘I’ll be your mirror,’ Nico sang to the

background hum of the Velvet Underground,

but she couldn’t reflect her world as well as

Nathan Taylor can reflect his.

Nathan Taylor is much more than a mirror.

His compositions, which are framed with the

same skills that a Hollywood cinematographer

brings to his craft, are planned in incredible

detail. The French brothers Le Nain brought

us paintings viewed from a very low horizon

line and Taylor has this skill too. We see a

supermarket trolley viewed from the angle of

a passing alley cat or a wino lying in the gutter.

The Slownessof Paint

Off by heart

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship 2010

118 119

The more problems the visual world throws in

the path of Nathan Taylor, the more he solves

them and comes back to ask for more. The

crinkled cellophane from a cigarette packet?

No problem, he can paint that. Would you like

a row of terraced houses reflected across its

warped surface? A piece of green chewing

gum, screwed up like an alien brain? Here

it is, the size of a peanut. A couple making

love, reflected in the hubcap of a car, or in an

overturned beer glass? Taylor paints them so

small you hardly notice them noticing you.

‘I’ll be your mirror,’ Nico sang to the

background hum of the Velvet Underground,

but she couldn’t reflect her world as well as

Nathan Taylor can reflect his.

Nathan Taylor is much more than a mirror.

His compositions, which are framed with the

same skills that a Hollywood cinematographer

brings to his craft, are planned in incredible

detail. The French brothers Le Nain brought

us paintings viewed from a very low horizon

line and Taylor has this skill too. We see a

supermarket trolley viewed from the angle of

a passing alley cat or a wino lying in the gutter.

The Slownessof Paint

Off by heart

2009

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship 2010

120 121

Elsewhere it is the things we throw away, the

things we never give a second glance to that

this remarkable artist spends hours, days,

rendering in paint. French fries are cold and

stiff, like severed legs. The cardboard bucket

that holds them is crushed and the nearby

cigarette has been stubbed out, lying at a

strange angle like a broken neck. He does a

good line in what might be called ‘damaged

umbilical cords’ – the overused rubber hose

of the petrol bowser, the shower attachment

suckered to the taps in the bathroom sink,

the yanked-one-time-too-many payphone

cord. Many of these devices don’t even have

recognisable names, so little do we know

them. And yet between the form and the

content – think Andres Serrano’s delicious Piss

Christ - and between the paint and the object

painted we have an epiphany that is orchestral

in its power.

England had its Kitchen Sink School, led by

the great painter John Bratby, while America

had the Ashcan School. Both were followed

by an international movement known as

Photorealism. Taylor is aware of all these, of

course, but places his uniquely Australian

vision within a globalised world market. He

paints local and puns global, to bowdlerise a

popular phrase.

Turn a blind eye

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

120 121

Elsewhere it is the things we throw away, the

things we never give a second glance to that

this remarkable artist spends hours, days,

rendering in paint. French fries are cold and

stiff, like severed legs. The cardboard bucket

that holds them is crushed and the nearby

cigarette has been stubbed out, lying at a

strange angle like a broken neck. He does a

good line in what might be called ‘damaged

umbilical cords’ – the overused rubber hose

of the petrol bowser, the shower attachment

suckered to the taps in the bathroom sink,

the yanked-one-time-too-many payphone

cord. Many of these devices don’t even have

recognisable names, so little do we know

them. And yet between the form and the

content – think Andres Serrano’s delicious Piss

Christ - and between the paint and the object

painted we have an epiphany that is orchestral

in its power.

England had its Kitchen Sink School, led by

the great painter John Bratby, while America

had the Ashcan School. Both were followed

by an international movement known as

Photorealism. Taylor is aware of all these, of

course, but places his uniquely Australian

vision within a globalised world market. He

paints local and puns global, to bowdlerise a

popular phrase.

Turn a blind eye

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

122 123

“I think my obsession with our immediate

environment came from me trying to process

and understand all the information contained

within it, attempting to capture its trapped

beauty and share it through painting,” he tells

me from his studio in Hobart. “Like the plastic

cup in Dead to the world. I’m so transfixed by

its aesthetic qualities that I almost forget that

it’s a piece of rubbish. It’s almost like it takes

on a new life beyond its intended purpose.

But, in contrast, the cup still speaks of a

disposable culture and represents unhealthy

recreational consumption habits and fast

food. I hope that this contrast in ideas

creates an interesting tension within each

piece; something of beauty and aesthetic

attraction but also ideas that tap into

something a little darker, social failures and

questionable cultural norms.”

Taylor is quite specific about what does and

does not influence him. Photographers, for

example, are more important than painters.

Films are important, but not individual ones,

rather certain framing devices in certain shots.

“I really respond to William Eggleston’s

work,” he continues. “I think he has a very

unique aesthetic and an amazing ability to

capture the complexity and beauty in the

mundane. I think he makes a very clever

social commentary by capturing the grain of

the immediate.”

Dead to the world

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Fletcher Jones Art Prize 2010

122 123

“I think my obsession with our immediate

environment came from me trying to process

and understand all the information contained

within it, attempting to capture its trapped

beauty and share it through painting,” he tells

me from his studio in Hobart. “Like the plastic

cup in Dead to the world. I’m so transfixed by

its aesthetic qualities that I almost forget that

it’s a piece of rubbish. It’s almost like it takes

on a new life beyond its intended purpose.

But, in contrast, the cup still speaks of a

disposable culture and represents unhealthy

recreational consumption habits and fast

food. I hope that this contrast in ideas

creates an interesting tension within each

piece; something of beauty and aesthetic

attraction but also ideas that tap into

something a little darker, social failures and

questionable cultural norms.”

Taylor is quite specific about what does and

does not influence him. Photographers, for

example, are more important than painters.

Films are important, but not individual ones,

rather certain framing devices in certain shots.

“I really respond to William Eggleston’s

work,” he continues. “I think he has a very

unique aesthetic and an amazing ability to

capture the complexity and beauty in the

mundane. I think he makes a very clever

social commentary by capturing the grain of

the immediate.”

Dead to the world

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Fletcher Jones Art Prize 2010

124 125

He does, however, praise the American

painters Ralph Goings and Robert Bechtle

for the way in which they “democratised the

ordinary”, helping the viewer to reassess their

own environment. “I like the way their style

deliberately went against any contemporary

art elitism opening their ideas to a broader

audience base.”

As our conversation expands he mentions

David Hockney, James Rosenquist and

Gerhard Richter, as well as Australian peers

Juan Ford and Wayne Brookes.

These recent paintings take Nathan Taylor’s

work to a new level. Some have been seen

at the Melbourne Art Fair, others in national

painting prizes. The people who collect

them do so with a passion and, as a result,

understand more about the consumer society

in which we live and how we see. If they look

closely, as they hang one of Taylor’s works on

their living room walls, they may be surprised

at what is reflected – not at the speed of light

but through the slowness of paint.

Peter Hill, 2010

Change of heart

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Redlands Westpac Art Prize 2010

124 125

He does, however, praise the American

painters Ralph Goings and Robert Bechtle

for the way in which they “democratised the

ordinary”, helping the viewer to reassess their

own environment. “I like the way their style

deliberately went against any contemporary

art elitism opening their ideas to a broader

audience base.”

As our conversation expands he mentions

David Hockney, James Rosenquist and

Gerhard Richter, as well as Australian peers

Juan Ford and Wayne Brookes.

These recent paintings take Nathan Taylor’s

work to a new level. Some have been seen

at the Melbourne Art Fair, others in national

painting prizes. The people who collect

them do so with a passion and, as a result,

understand more about the consumer society

in which we live and how we see. If they look

closely, as they hang one of Taylor’s works on

their living room walls, they may be surprised

at what is reflected – not at the speed of light

but through the slowness of paint.

Peter Hill, 2010

Change of heart

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Redlands Westpac Art Prize 2010

126 127

Survival of the fittest

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Run the risk

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

126 127

Survival of the fittest

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Run the risk

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

128

No hard feelings

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

128

No hard feelings

2010

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

LOVED TO DEATH2011 - 2012

LOVED TO DEATH2011 - 2012

132 133

This series investigates the self-destructive

nature of current social behaviours and

habits. I believe the most compelling physical

representation of our consumption-based

culture is rubbish. These works explore

a landscape of familiar branded products

discarded in public spaces. Refuse has

become a visual by-product of our mono-

focused aspiration towards an unsustainable

lifestyle. It is a strong metaphor in

symbolising everything selfish, lazy and

greedy about modern culture.

More specifically these works are in direct

reaction to an increasing reluctance to

change our routine behaviour which is

currently impacting on the environment. As

these seemingly simple decisions become

politicised and distorted through the media,

we become disassociated from the reality of

the problem. Our ability to be educated is

blurred through a skewed representation of

facts.

I have tried to capture this tension of

misunderstanding and misrepresentation by

creating something negative in an aesthetic

way.

Nathan Taylor

Value of suffering

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2011

132 133

This series investigates the self-destructive

nature of current social behaviours and

habits. I believe the most compelling physical

representation of our consumption-based

culture is rubbish. These works explore

a landscape of familiar branded products

discarded in public spaces. Refuse has

become a visual by-product of our mono-

focused aspiration towards an unsustainable

lifestyle. It is a strong metaphor in

symbolising everything selfish, lazy and

greedy about modern culture.

More specifically these works are in direct

reaction to an increasing reluctance to

change our routine behaviour which is

currently impacting on the environment. As

these seemingly simple decisions become

politicised and distorted through the media,

we become disassociated from the reality of

the problem. Our ability to be educated is

blurred through a skewed representation of

facts.

I have tried to capture this tension of

misunderstanding and misrepresentation by

creating something negative in an aesthetic

way.

Nathan Taylor

Value of suffering

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2011

134 135

Worried to death

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Serve you right

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

134 135

Worried to death

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Serve you right

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

136 137

New-found freedom

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Running on empty

2012

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

136 137

New-found freedom

2011

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Running on empty

2012

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

138 139

Loved to death

2012

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Speak of the devil

2012

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cmExhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2012 Exhibited as part of the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (formerly Fletcher Jones Art Prize) 2012

138 139

Loved to death

2012

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cm

Speak of the devil

2012

Acrylic on board

50 x 100 cmExhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2012 Exhibited as part of the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (formerly Fletcher Jones Art Prize) 2012

140

Supply and demand

2012

Acrylic on board

40 x 80 cm

140

Supply and demand

2012

Acrylic on board

40 x 80 cm

PHOTOGRAPHS2008-2011

PHOTOGRAPHS2008-2011

144 145

Untitled i

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

The photographic image has always been

a critical launching point for all my creative

pursuits. In the same way that my painting

practice has evolved, so too has the role

and importance of the camera. As I develop

my ideas and tune the way in which I

communicate them, photography has

become a more crucial tool to help guide this

progression.

My ongoing exploration into the photographic

image has helped seed its own direction,

evolving naturally towards a unique artistic

pursuit in its own right. By canvassing similar

subject matter through different approaches

I hope to offer greater access and a broader

perspective into my ideas.

Photography has also enabled me to create

an extensive visual diary, an ongoing personal

archive of our environment, in which I

document objects and spaces, and track my

ideas. By using photography in this way I

can fastidiously map, organise, capture and

ultimately understand the immense amount

of information that daily inundates us.

As my practice evolves I hope to strengthen

my use of the camera not only for the purpose

of painting, but also in its own right. I feel

photography has the potential to help me

further rationalise and decode an ever-

increasing visually saturated landscape. I

hope that this slowly expanding body of

exhibited photographs works synchronous

with my painting, tracing a similar path, but

conversing in a different language.

Nathan Taylor

144 145

Untitled i

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

The photographic image has always been

a critical launching point for all my creative

pursuits. In the same way that my painting

practice has evolved, so too has the role

and importance of the camera. As I develop

my ideas and tune the way in which I

communicate them, photography has

become a more crucial tool to help guide this

progression.

My ongoing exploration into the photographic

image has helped seed its own direction,

evolving naturally towards a unique artistic

pursuit in its own right. By canvassing similar

subject matter through different approaches

I hope to offer greater access and a broader

perspective into my ideas.

Photography has also enabled me to create

an extensive visual diary, an ongoing personal

archive of our environment, in which I

document objects and spaces, and track my

ideas. By using photography in this way I

can fastidiously map, organise, capture and

ultimately understand the immense amount

of information that daily inundates us.

As my practice evolves I hope to strengthen

my use of the camera not only for the purpose

of painting, but also in its own right. I feel

photography has the potential to help me

further rationalise and decode an ever-

increasing visually saturated landscape. I

hope that this slowly expanding body of

exhibited photographs works synchronous

with my painting, tracing a similar path, but

conversing in a different language.

Nathan Taylor

146 147

Untitled ii

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Mount Eyre Prize 2010

Untitled iii

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

146 147

Untitled ii

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Mount Eyre Prize 2010

Untitled iii

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

148 149

Untitled iv

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled v

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

148 149

Untitled iv

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled v

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

150 151

Untitled vi

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled vii

[I scream, you scream]

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the CLIP Award 2010 and the Mount Eyre Prize 2011

150 151

Untitled vi

2008

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled vii

[I scream, you scream]

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the CLIP Award 2010 and the Mount Eyre Prize 2011

152 153

Untitled viii

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled ix

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

152 153

Untitled viii

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled ix

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

154 155

Untitled x

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled xi

2011

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

154 155

Untitled x

2010

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6

Untitled xi

2011

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

156

Untitled xii

2011

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

156

Untitled xii

2011

Digital print

56 x 90 cm

Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

NATHAN TAYLOR

NATHAN TAYLOR

160 161

BORN 1979

EDUCATION

2006 Bachelor of Fine Arts Dean’s Honour Roll University of Tasmania Centre for the Arts

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2012 Loved to Death Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay www.michaelreid.com.au

2010 Dead to the World Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay www.michaelreid.com.au

2009 Homesick Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne www.mossgreen.com.au

2008 Six New Works Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

Culture Made Easy Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne www.lindenarts.org

2007 Portrait: New Drawings Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

The Suburban Vernacular Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne www.mossgreen.com.au

2006 Melbourne Art Fair Represented by Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

2005 Recent Paintings (Concrete Poetics) Harrison Galleries (formerly Brian Moore Gallery), Sydney www.harrisongalleries.com.au

2004 Melbourne Art Fair Represented by Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

2003 Love & Concrete Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

2000 Photographic Memory Foyer Installation Gallery, Hobart

Reminiscence Little Space Gallery, Hobart College, Hobart

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012 Murr-ma Halle am Wasser, Invalidenstrasse, Berlin

Linden Postcard Show Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne

2011 Red Despard Gallery, Hobart

2010 Melbourne Art Fair Preview Show Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney

Kodak Salon Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne

Artist Stable Group Show Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

NATHAN TAYLORwww.nathantaylor.com.au 2009 ArtSale@TMAG

Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, Hobart

Here/Now Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

2008 21st Annual Summer Show Despard Gallery, Hobart

Metro Art Award Benalla Regional Gallery, Benalla

2007 20th Annual Summer Show Despard Gallery, Hobart

New Gallery Launch Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

What ever I like... Despard Gallery, Hobart

2006 Summer Group Show Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

2005 Artist Stable Launch Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

2004 Salon, Tasmanian Group Exhibition Peter Lane Gallery, Woollahra, NSW

2003 16th Annual Summer Show Despard Gallery, Hobart

2002 A Baroque Christmas, 15th Annual Christmas Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

Off the Rack Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

2001 14th Annual Christmas Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

Emerging Artist Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

To be Announced ... Little Space Gallery, Hobart College, Hobart

Raw Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart

2000 Salsa 13th Annual Christmas Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

1999 Palate to Palette Elizabeth Street, Hobart

1998 The Summer Show Entrepot Gallery, Hobart

1997 Art Rage Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston

1996 Art Rage Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart

COMMISSIONS

2011 Portrait of His Excellency The Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Underwood

2002 Mural for the Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Council Education Centre

GRANTS

2007 Janet Holmes à Court Artists’ Grant

2006 Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship

2003 Artist Development Grant, Arts Tasmania

Industry Development Grant, Arts Tasmania

160 161

BORN 1979

EDUCATION

2006 Bachelor of Fine Arts Dean’s Honour Roll University of Tasmania Centre for the Arts

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2012 Loved to Death Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay www.michaelreid.com.au

2010 Dead to the World Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay www.michaelreid.com.au

2009 Homesick Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne www.mossgreen.com.au

2008 Six New Works Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

Culture Made Easy Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne www.lindenarts.org

2007 Portrait: New Drawings Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

The Suburban Vernacular Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne www.mossgreen.com.au

2006 Melbourne Art Fair Represented by Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

2005 Recent Paintings (Concrete Poetics) Harrison Galleries (formerly Brian Moore Gallery), Sydney www.harrisongalleries.com.au

2004 Melbourne Art Fair Represented by Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

2003 Love & Concrete Despard Gallery, Hobart www.despard-gallery.com.au

2000 Photographic Memory Foyer Installation Gallery, Hobart

Reminiscence Little Space Gallery, Hobart College, Hobart

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012 Murr-ma Halle am Wasser, Invalidenstrasse, Berlin

Linden Postcard Show Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne

2011 Red Despard Gallery, Hobart

2010 Melbourne Art Fair Preview Show Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney

Kodak Salon Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne

Artist Stable Group Show Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

NATHAN TAYLORwww.nathantaylor.com.au 2009 ArtSale@TMAG

Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, Hobart

Here/Now Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

2008 21st Annual Summer Show Despard Gallery, Hobart

Metro Art Award Benalla Regional Gallery, Benalla

2007 20th Annual Summer Show Despard Gallery, Hobart

New Gallery Launch Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

What ever I like... Despard Gallery, Hobart

2006 Summer Group Show Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

2005 Artist Stable Launch Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

2004 Salon, Tasmanian Group Exhibition Peter Lane Gallery, Woollahra, NSW

2003 16th Annual Summer Show Despard Gallery, Hobart

2002 A Baroque Christmas, 15th Annual Christmas Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

Off the Rack Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

2001 14th Annual Christmas Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

Emerging Artist Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

To be Announced ... Little Space Gallery, Hobart College, Hobart

Raw Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart

2000 Salsa 13th Annual Christmas Exhibition Despard Gallery, Hobart

1999 Palate to Palette Elizabeth Street, Hobart

1998 The Summer Show Entrepot Gallery, Hobart

1997 Art Rage Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston

1996 Art Rage Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart

COMMISSIONS

2011 Portrait of His Excellency The Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Underwood

2002 Mural for the Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Council Education Centre

GRANTS

2007 Janet Holmes à Court Artists’ Grant

2006 Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship

2003 Artist Development Grant, Arts Tasmania

Industry Development Grant, Arts Tasmania

162 163

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS

2012 Finalist, Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (formerly Fletcher Jones Art Prize)

Finalist, John Fries Memorial Prize

Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize

2011 Finalist, Corangamarah Art Prize

Finalist, John Fries Memorial Prize

Finalist, Mount Eyre Art Prize

2010 Nominated, Redlands Westpac Art Prize - Emerging Artists

Finalist, Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship

Finalist, Fletcher Jones Art Prize

Finalist, CLIP Award

Finalist, Mount Eyre Art Prize

2009 Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize

2008 Finalist, Corangamarah Art Prize

Finalist, Metro Art Award

Finalist, Tasmanian Youth Portraiture Prize

2007 Finalist, RIPE Art & Australia/ANZ Private Bank Contemporary Art Award

2003 Finalist, Hutchins Art Prize

2002 Finalist, Metro Art Award

1997 Art Production Prize

Ian McDonald Memorial Prize

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2012 Eccles, Jeremy, Australian Art Review, April-May 2012

Rauch, Helmut, Photorealism, PhD thesis on Photorealism, Kunstuniversität Linz, Austria

Buchanan, Tanya, ‘Belle Reader Event’, Belle Magazine, June-July 2012

‘Belle Reader Event’, Belle Magazine, February- March 2012

Taylor, Andrew, ‘Culture’, Sun Herald, 7 August 2011

2011 Sargent, Anne-Marie, ‘Right Now Art’, Belle, June-July 2011

Cloney, Emily and Michael Reid, Australian Art: Who, What, When, How Much? 2011

‘Our Times’, Belle, April-May 2011

2010 Flynn, Paul, Artist Profile Magazine, Issue 13, 2010

Cormack, Bridget, ‘Arts, Out & About’, The Australian, 3 November 2010

Small, Bethany, ‘Front Row Arts’, The Drum Media, 2 November 2010

Vowles, Gill, The Mercury, 12 November 2010

Ooi, Teresa, ‘Pulse of the Nation’, The Weekend Australian, 13 November 2010

Dwyer, Lynne in ‘Spectrum’, Sydney Morning Herald, 13-14 November 2010

‘On The Wall’, Nine to Five, Issue 1122, 22 November 2010

‘What’s On’, Nine to Five, Issue 1121, 15 November 2010

The Daily Telegraph, 13 November 2010

Reid, Michael, ‘The Art Market Monitor’, 27 October 2010

2009 Exhibition profile in Art Almanac, September 2009

‘Inside Stories’, The Saturday Mercury. 20 June 2009

Cockington, James, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 March 2009

‘50 Most Collectable Artists’, Australian Art Collector, Issue #47, 2009

Joyce, Ella, TMAGgots, ‘The Apple’, Issue 6, Autumn 2009

2008 ‘Editor’s Choice’ in The Art Market Report, Issue 30

Selby, Clyde, ‘Gallery Watch’ in ‘Review’, The Mercury, 15 November 2008

Thow, Penny in Sunday Tasmanian, 2 November 2008

Exhibition profile in Art Almanac, November 2008

Abell, Judith, ‘TasWrap’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 46, 2008

Moore, Ross, ‘Metro’, The Age, 22 August 2008

Crawford, Ashley, ‘A2’, The Age, 16 August 2008

‘Must See’, Artist Profile, Issue 4,

2008 Bittar, Nicole, ‘A2’, The Age, A2, 12 July 2008

Gencturk, Pinar, Moreland Community News, 10 June 2008

Stockman, David, ‘Art’, Moreland Leader, 9 June 2008

2007 Crisp, Lindall, ‘Arts’, The Financial Review, 15-16 December 2007

Selby, Clyde, ‘Gallery Watch’ in ‘Review’, The Mercury, 1 December 2007

Brookes, Wayne, ‘Portrait: New drawings by Nathan Taylor’ exhibition catalogue essay, 2007

Exhibition profile in Art Almanac, September 2007

Backhouse, Megan, ‘A2’, The Age, 22 September 2007

Backhouse, Megan, ‘Metro’, The Age, 15 August 2007

Crawford, Ashley, ‘Suburban Vernacular’, exhibition catalogue essay

2006 ‘The Australian Art Market Report’, The Australian, Issue 20, Winter 2006

2005 ‘Collector’, The Wentworth Courier, 30 November 2005

‘The Australian Art Market Report’, The Australian, Issue 18, Summer 2005

Backhouse, Megan, ‘Metro’, The Age, 26 October 2005

Wise, Kit ‘Nathan Taylor: Concrete Poetics’, catalogue essay

162 163

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS

2012 Finalist, Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (formerly Fletcher Jones Art Prize)

Finalist, John Fries Memorial Prize

Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize

2011 Finalist, Corangamarah Art Prize

Finalist, John Fries Memorial Prize

Finalist, Mount Eyre Art Prize

2010 Nominated, Redlands Westpac Art Prize - Emerging Artists

Finalist, Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship

Finalist, Fletcher Jones Art Prize

Finalist, CLIP Award

Finalist, Mount Eyre Art Prize

2009 Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize

2008 Finalist, Corangamarah Art Prize

Finalist, Metro Art Award

Finalist, Tasmanian Youth Portraiture Prize

2007 Finalist, RIPE Art & Australia/ANZ Private Bank Contemporary Art Award

2003 Finalist, Hutchins Art Prize

2002 Finalist, Metro Art Award

1997 Art Production Prize

Ian McDonald Memorial Prize

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2012 Eccles, Jeremy, Australian Art Review, April-May 2012

Rauch, Helmut, Photorealism, PhD thesis on Photorealism, Kunstuniversität Linz, Austria

Buchanan, Tanya, ‘Belle Reader Event’, Belle Magazine, June-July 2012

‘Belle Reader Event’, Belle Magazine, February- March 2012

Taylor, Andrew, ‘Culture’, Sun Herald, 7 August 2011

2011 Sargent, Anne-Marie, ‘Right Now Art’, Belle, June-July 2011

Cloney, Emily and Michael Reid, Australian Art: Who, What, When, How Much? 2011

‘Our Times’, Belle, April-May 2011

2010 Flynn, Paul, Artist Profile Magazine, Issue 13, 2010

Cormack, Bridget, ‘Arts, Out & About’, The Australian, 3 November 2010

Small, Bethany, ‘Front Row Arts’, The Drum Media, 2 November 2010

Vowles, Gill, The Mercury, 12 November 2010

Ooi, Teresa, ‘Pulse of the Nation’, The Weekend Australian, 13 November 2010

Dwyer, Lynne in ‘Spectrum’, Sydney Morning Herald, 13-14 November 2010

‘On The Wall’, Nine to Five, Issue 1122, 22 November 2010

‘What’s On’, Nine to Five, Issue 1121, 15 November 2010

The Daily Telegraph, 13 November 2010

Reid, Michael, ‘The Art Market Monitor’, 27 October 2010

2009 Exhibition profile in Art Almanac, September 2009

‘Inside Stories’, The Saturday Mercury. 20 June 2009

Cockington, James, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 March 2009

‘50 Most Collectable Artists’, Australian Art Collector, Issue #47, 2009

Joyce, Ella, TMAGgots, ‘The Apple’, Issue 6, Autumn 2009

2008 ‘Editor’s Choice’ in The Art Market Report, Issue 30

Selby, Clyde, ‘Gallery Watch’ in ‘Review’, The Mercury, 15 November 2008

Thow, Penny in Sunday Tasmanian, 2 November 2008

Exhibition profile in Art Almanac, November 2008

Abell, Judith, ‘TasWrap’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 46, 2008

Moore, Ross, ‘Metro’, The Age, 22 August 2008

Crawford, Ashley, ‘A2’, The Age, 16 August 2008

‘Must See’, Artist Profile, Issue 4,

2008 Bittar, Nicole, ‘A2’, The Age, A2, 12 July 2008

Gencturk, Pinar, Moreland Community News, 10 June 2008

Stockman, David, ‘Art’, Moreland Leader, 9 June 2008

2007 Crisp, Lindall, ‘Arts’, The Financial Review, 15-16 December 2007

Selby, Clyde, ‘Gallery Watch’ in ‘Review’, The Mercury, 1 December 2007

Brookes, Wayne, ‘Portrait: New drawings by Nathan Taylor’ exhibition catalogue essay, 2007

Exhibition profile in Art Almanac, September 2007

Backhouse, Megan, ‘A2’, The Age, 22 September 2007

Backhouse, Megan, ‘Metro’, The Age, 15 August 2007

Crawford, Ashley, ‘Suburban Vernacular’, exhibition catalogue essay

2006 ‘The Australian Art Market Report’, The Australian, Issue 20, Winter 2006

2005 ‘Collector’, The Wentworth Courier, 30 November 2005

‘The Australian Art Market Report’, The Australian, Issue 18, Summer 2005

Backhouse, Megan, ‘Metro’, The Age, 26 October 2005

Wise, Kit ‘Nathan Taylor: Concrete Poetics’, catalogue essay

164 165

2004 Crisp, Lindall, ‘Arts’, The Financial Review, 7 October 2004

Murray, Laura in State of the Arts, October–December 2004

2003 ‘Review’, The Saturday Mercury, 22 November 2003

Kennedy, Wendy in The Mercury, 17 November 2003

Naidoo, Meryl in The Mercury, 31 October 2003

2002 The Mercury 20th December 2002

2001 Andersch, Joerge, ‘Review’, The Saturday Mercury, 23 June 2001

Australian Art Collector, Issue 17, July–September 2001

MEDIA

2009 ‘Your Money Your Call’, Sky News, profile segment with Michael Reid and David Cook

2008 936 ABC Radio Hobart, radio interview with Annie Warburton

Edge FM, radio interview with Wayne Brookes

2003 ‘Love This Place’, Southern Cross Television, television segment with Wendy Kennedy

2001 936 ABC Radio Hobart, radio interview with Tim Cox

ARTIST TALKS

2012 Belle magazine Artist Dinner [part of Art Month Sydney]

2011 Island Art Collection

2010 University of Tasmania

Hobart College

The Friends’ School

His Excellency The Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Underwood

2011

Pastel on paper

76 x 112 cm Private commission

164 165

2004 Crisp, Lindall, ‘Arts’, The Financial Review, 7 October 2004

Murray, Laura in State of the Arts, October–December 2004

2003 ‘Review’, The Saturday Mercury, 22 November 2003

Kennedy, Wendy in The Mercury, 17 November 2003

Naidoo, Meryl in The Mercury, 31 October 2003

2002 The Mercury 20th December 2002

2001 Andersch, Joerge, ‘Review’, The Saturday Mercury, 23 June 2001

Australian Art Collector, Issue 17, July–September 2001

MEDIA

2009 ‘Your Money Your Call’, Sky News, profile segment with Michael Reid and David Cook

2008 936 ABC Radio Hobart, radio interview with Annie Warburton

Edge FM, radio interview with Wayne Brookes

2003 ‘Love This Place’, Southern Cross Television, television segment with Wendy Kennedy

2001 936 ABC Radio Hobart, radio interview with Tim Cox

ARTIST TALKS

2012 Belle magazine Artist Dinner [part of Art Month Sydney]

2011 Island Art Collection

2010 University of Tasmania

Hobart College

The Friends’ School

His Excellency The Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Underwood

2011

Pastel on paper

76 x 112 cm Private commission

PLATES

PLATES

168 169

Self portrait II 2002 Pastel on paper 195 x 130 cm

One more swing 2001 Acrylic on board 100 x 100 cm

Queen’s birthday celebration 2001 Acrylic on board 100 x 100 cm

Victa trouble 2001 Acrylic on board 100 x 100 cm

Crease 2002 Acrylic on canvas board 45 x 35 cm

Kids stay free 2003 Acrylic on board 55 x 100 cm

Be my guest 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Business and pleasure 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Rest assured 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 90 cm

Home and hosed 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

This moment still 2004 Acrylic on board 60 x 110 cm

My pleasure 2004 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Wish you were here 2004 Acrylic on board 60 x 110 cm

Sticks and stones 2004 Acrylic on board 80 x 130 cm

In your best interests 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

With friends like these 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

In the first place 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

From little things 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

One size fits all 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Open all hours 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

In the long run 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

At all costs 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Return to sender 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Out of order 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Next to godliness 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

First come, first serve 2006 Acrylic on board 75 x 150 cm

Leading the blind 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Use only as directed 2006 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Come to terms 2006 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

By appointment only 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

No love lost 2006 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

To say the least 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

No rest for the wicked 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

On the safe side 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

One for the team 2007 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Count your blessings 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

168 169

Self portrait II 2002 Pastel on paper 195 x 130 cm

One more swing 2001 Acrylic on board 100 x 100 cm

Queen’s birthday celebration 2001 Acrylic on board 100 x 100 cm

Victa trouble 2001 Acrylic on board 100 x 100 cm

Crease 2002 Acrylic on canvas board 45 x 35 cm

Kids stay free 2003 Acrylic on board 55 x 100 cm

Be my guest 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Business and pleasure 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Rest assured 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 90 cm

Home and hosed 2003 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

This moment still 2004 Acrylic on board 60 x 110 cm

My pleasure 2004 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Wish you were here 2004 Acrylic on board 60 x 110 cm

Sticks and stones 2004 Acrylic on board 80 x 130 cm

In your best interests 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

With friends like these 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

In the first place 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

From little things 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

One size fits all 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Open all hours 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

In the long run 2005 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

At all costs 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Return to sender 2005 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Out of order 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Next to godliness 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

First come, first serve 2006 Acrylic on board 75 x 150 cm

Leading the blind 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Use only as directed 2006 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Come to terms 2006 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

By appointment only 2006 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

No love lost 2006 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

To say the least 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

No rest for the wicked 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

On the safe side 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

One for the team 2007 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Count your blessings 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

170 171

Safety in numbers 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

By the way 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

David Edgar 2007 Pastel on paper 93.5 x 70.5 cm

Bill Taylor 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize

Gill Taylor 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm

Wayne Brookes 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Tasmanian Youth Portraiture Prize 2008 and as part of the City of Hobart Art Prize 2009

Jane Barlow 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm

Bree Mooney 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm

Dale Richards 2007 Pastel on paper 93.5 x 70.5 cm

Close to home 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Priced to clear 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Metro Art Award 2008

Make ends meet 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Beyond the pale 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Subject to finance 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

On the bright side 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Bare with me 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Blessing in disguise 2008 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Taken to heart 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Force of habit 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Learn your lesson 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Never the less 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Cut your losses 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Once in a while 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Good things come 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Off the record 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Off by heart 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship 2010

Turn a blind eye 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Dead to the world 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Fletcher Jones Art Prize 2010

Change of heart 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Redlands Westpac Art Prize 2010

Survival of the fittest 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Run the risk 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

No hard feelings 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Value of suffering 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2011

Worried to death 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

170 171

Safety in numbers 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

By the way 2007 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

David Edgar 2007 Pastel on paper 93.5 x 70.5 cm

Bill Taylor 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize

Gill Taylor 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm

Wayne Brookes 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm Exhibited as part of the Tasmanian Youth Portraiture Prize 2008 and as part of the City of Hobart Art Prize 2009

Jane Barlow 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm

Bree Mooney 2007 Pastel on paper 70.5 x 93.5 cm

Dale Richards 2007 Pastel on paper 93.5 x 70.5 cm

Close to home 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Priced to clear 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Metro Art Award 2008

Make ends meet 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Beyond the pale 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Subject to finance 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

On the bright side 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Bare with me 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Blessing in disguise 2008 Acrylic on board 60 x 120 cm

Taken to heart 2008 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Force of habit 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Learn your lesson 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Never the less 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Cut your losses 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Once in a while 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Good things come 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Off the record 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Off by heart 2009 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship 2010

Turn a blind eye 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Dead to the world 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Fletcher Jones Art Prize 2010

Change of heart 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Redlands Westpac Art Prize 2010

Survival of the fittest 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Run the risk 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

No hard feelings 2010 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Value of suffering 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2011

Worried to death 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

172 173

Serve you right 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

New-found freedom 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Running on empty 2012 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Loved to death 2012 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2012

Speak of the devil 2012 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (formerly Fletcher Jones Art Prize) 2012

Supply and demand 2012 Acrylic on board 40 x 80 cm

Untitled i 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled ii 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Mount Eyre Prize 2010

Untitled iii 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled iv 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled v 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled vi 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled vii [I scream, you scream] 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the CLIP Award 2010 and the Mount Eyre Prize 2011

Untitled viii 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled ix 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled x 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled xi 2011 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

Untitled xii 2011 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

His Excellency The Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Underwood 2011 Pastel on paper 76 x 112 cm

172 173

Serve you right 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

New-found freedom 2011 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Running on empty 2012 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm

Loved to death 2012 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the John Fries Memorial Prize 2012

Speak of the devil 2012 Acrylic on board 50 x 100 cm Exhibited as part of the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (formerly Fletcher Jones Art Prize) 2012

Supply and demand 2012 Acrylic on board 40 x 80 cm

Untitled i 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled ii 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Mount Eyre Prize 2010

Untitled iii 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled iv 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled v 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled vi 2008 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled vii [I scream, you scream] 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the CLIP Award 2010 and the Mount Eyre Prize 2011

Untitled viii 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled ix 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled x 2010 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6

Untitled xi 2011 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

Untitled xii 2011 Digital print 56 x 90 cm Edition of 6 Exhibited as part of the Corangamarah Art Prize 2011

His Excellency The Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Underwood 2011 Pastel on paper 76 x 112 cm

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTORS

177

Dr Wayne BrookesArtist and visual arts teacher, Hobart College, Tasmanian Academy, Australia

Emily CloneyArt writer and editor, co-author Australian Art: Who, What, When, How Much? (2011)

Ashley CrawfordArts writer and author of Spray: The Work of Howard Arkley (1997), Wimmera: The Work of Philip Hunter (2002), Gelderland: The Work of Stephen Bush (2007), First Life (2011)

Dr Peter HillArtist and art writer,Adjunct Professor of Fine Art, RMIT University, Australia

John McDonaldArt critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, author The Art of Australia Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation (2009)

Michael ReidArt market commentator, art educator and art dealer, author How to Buy & Sell Art (2008), co-author Reid’s guide to Australian art galleries (2005) and Australian Art: Who, What, When, How Much? (2011)

Dr Kit WiseArtist, art writer and curator. Associate Dean of Education and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash University, Australia.

Photography of artworks

Jeremy DillonSimon CuthbertPeter Angus Robinson

177

Dr Wayne BrookesArtist and visual arts teacher, Hobart College, Tasmanian Academy, Australia

Emily CloneyArt writer and editor, co-author Australian Art: Who, What, When, How Much? (2011)

Ashley CrawfordArts writer and author of Spray: The Work of Howard Arkley (1997), Wimmera: The Work of Philip Hunter (2002), Gelderland: The Work of Stephen Bush (2007), First Life (2011)

Dr Peter HillArtist and art writer,Adjunct Professor of Fine Art, RMIT University, Australia

John McDonaldArt critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, author The Art of Australia Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation (2009)

Michael ReidArt market commentator, art educator and art dealer, author How to Buy & Sell Art (2008), co-author Reid’s guide to Australian art galleries (2005) and Australian Art: Who, What, When, How Much? (2011)

Dr Kit WiseArtist, art writer and curator. Associate Dean of Education and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash University, Australia.

Photography of artworks

Jeremy DillonSimon CuthbertPeter Angus Robinson

‘The colours may be bright but these paintings provide a window onto a world rapidly subsiding into picturesque decay.’

John McDonald, Art critic and author

‘Nathan Taylor’s paintings seduce the viewer....He lifts tired signifiers of the domestic into a more rarefied realm through his compositions.’

Kit Wise, Senior lecturer in Fine Art,

Monash University

‘The colours may be bright but these paintings provide a window onto a world rapidly subsiding into picturesque decay.’

John McDonald, Art critic and author

‘Nathan Taylor’s paintings seduce the viewer....He lifts tired signifiers of the domestic into a more rarefied realm through his compositions.’

Kit Wise, Senior lecturer in Fine Art,

Monash University