Arts Bank

Ian Taylor was born in Dormanstown, Redcar in 1948 and now lives on North Island New Zealand. He attended art schools in Middlesbrough, under Joe Cole, Sheffield and the Ruskin Schools in Oxford.   

Ian’s work essentially falls into two broad areas. Firstly that of a very conscientious study of the practice of painting; that relentless practice of applying paint to canvas in a determined way which is best seen in the many still lives extant in Ian’s oeuvre. Through the consideration given to the associations of the various objects in these still lives we also gain some insight into the man, into his interests, reading habits and so on. Increasingly over the years these still lives have become more complicated in structure and often include elements from the outside, views through windows and fragments of other vistas. This leads into the second area of Ian’s work, a development made over the past ten or fifteen years of the creation of larger more freely structured “ideas” pieces. These works frequently evoke Ian’s past here in England. Dormanstown and the “works”, his neighbours and friends, the football he is so passionate about and the music he listens to, all feature strongly.

Ian’s work is at best a celebration of life, not a criticism, a dogma or political point of view but an honest reflection on our lot. His work proudly confronts both the complexities of the techniques of painting and a tradition of self expression, creating along the way works, the essence of which continues to intrigue, question and delight.

Such a pursuit, in the “Art World” context, may appear to be out of date and old fashioned. This is not so. “Art” has in a sense been hijacked by a cold, intellectualisation of its meaning and so it becomes fashionable to delight in the emperor’s new clothes, often to the exclusion of all else. If a work is not seen to be breaking new ground, it is somehow worthless.  Ian Taylor’s paintings offers a very refreshing relief from such dogma, his work is assured and original and deserves every success.