David Zwirner (Gallery) — Al Taylor: Early Paintings

New York, David Zwirner Books, 2017. Hardcover. Illustrated boards. 94 pages : illustrations (chiefly color). Published on the occasion of the exhibition: Al Taylor, Early Paintings, held at David Zwirner, 537 West 20th Street, New York, February 24-April 15, 2017. New scholarship by poet and art critic John Yau examines the visual relationships that connect Taylor's paintings, drawings, and sculptural objects, while also reflecting on the art world in New York City during the 1970s. In addition, a conversation conducted by Mimi Thompson between renowned painters Stanley Whitney and Billy Sullivan -- all of whom knew Taylor well during his lifetime -- provides insight into his reputation as an 'artist's artist.' Twenty-six paintings are at the heart of this catalogue -- embodying the subtleties of reduction and restraint, they nonetheless have hints of the idiosyncratic playfulness that would come to characterize Taylor's later works. In some canvases, the artist delineates spatial perspectives by incorporating the wall in shaped compositions where a single color often dominates; elsewhere, it is the interaction of his color juxtapositions and fluid paint application that energize the canvas. Both painterly and sculptural in their address, these works deviate from the usual tropes of abstraction to uniquely engage space, perception, and possess a lyrical rhythm. Contents: Interesting phenomenon / John Yau -- Plates -- Stanley Whitney and Billy Sullivan in conversation with Mimi Thompson : New York, September 26, 2016 -- Biographical chronology / compiled by Debbie Taylor. VG .