From Sharne Wolff…
Michael Taylor has been rated as one of the great interpreters of the Australian landscape. Now in his early eighties, with dozens of solo exhibitions under his belt and his work held in every major Australian Gallery, the artist hasn’t slowed down. Currently on display are more than twenty of Taylor’s joyful abstract paintings, all made over the past 12 months.
The bush and coastal landscapes surrounding his home in the small town of Cooma in south-eastern NSW provide Taylor with ample material for these expressionist-style oil paintings made in his characteristic lyrical style. Perhaps less spare in colour and appearance than much of his early work from the 60s and 70s, the paintings carry an appeal to the emotions. Of course there’s the tell tale palette, but everything else is conveyed by the paint itself. Sweet sounding bush melodies harmonise with Taylor’s symphonic blue odes to the sea and the rhythmic lapping sounds of his dark river landscapes. Bright days, moonlit nights and early mornings are all captured with aplomb.
Ten years ago when asked if he would work like Picasso – until the very end – Taylor replied, “I could go out with a brush in my teeth”.
Until May 9
Gallery 9, Darlinghurst
Pic: Michael Taylor, The Ridge, 2014. Oil and oil stick on linen, 120 x 160 cm. Courtesy the artist and Gallery 9.
