Notes from Paris
Part Three
Sascha Behrendt
Henry Taylor, Forest fever ain’t nothing like, “Jungle Fever” (detail), 2021, acrylic on canvas. © Henry Taylor, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Nicholas Brasseur
In Notes from Paris part three, contributing editor Sascha Behrendt shares her thoughts on the recent exhibition by Henry Taylor.
HENRY TAYLOR. FROM SUGAR TO SHIT
Hauser & Wirth Paris
October 14, 2023—January 7, 2024
Hauser & Wirth Paris, ‘Henry Taylor. FROM SUGAR TO SHIT’, 14 October 2023–7 January 2024. © Henry Taylor Courtesy the artist and Hauser &Wirth. Photo: Nicolas Brasseur
Taylor disrupts any niceties with the title of his show, which includes sculptural afro trees, bottle tops, and toilet rolls as well as wryly titled portraits, such as, Does yo dog bite Mickelene (Thomas) (2022) or that of Josephine Baker kneeling naked in front of those historical symbols of colonialism, the British Museum, and the Louvre. Deceptively slapdash, the paintings are for Taylor and his world, not the white European canon. Strong color contrasts and rough brush marks are his language. There is a sweet subversive relish to his work being seen in the most chi-chi streets not far from the Champs Elysees.
Henry Taylor, Another country, Ben Vereen, 2023, acrylic on canvas. Photo: Jeff McLane
Henry Taylor, got, get, gone, but don't you think you should give it back?, 2023, acrylic on canvas. Photo: Nicolas Brasseur
Exhibition view: Henry Taylor, From Sugar to Shit, Hauser & Wirth, Paris (14 October 2023–7 January 2024). © Henry Taylor. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Nicolas Brasseur
Henry Taylor, 2022. © Henry Taylor. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Emma Jenkinson
Henry Taylor
From Sugar to Shit
Hauser & Wirth Paris
October 14, 2023—January 7, 2024
Editor Sascha Behrendt is a writer with an in-depth knowledge of arts and culture in the US and UK. Interviews and profiles include artists Stan Douglas, Arthur Jafa, Sakiko Nomura, Walter Van Beirendonck, Francesca Woodman and Wolfgang Tillmans. She has been part of the editorial content team at Avant Arte, a pioneering platform for emerging and blue-chip artists, and writes for the Sasson Soffer Foundation in New York.