Al Taylor in his Warwick Street studio, Kansas City, Missouri, April 1969. Estate of Al Taylor archives
阿爾·泰勒在其沃里克街工作室,堪薩斯城,密蘇里州,1969年4月。阿爾·泰勒藝術遺產資料圖片
Al Taylor: Playing with Color
David Zwirner is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by Al Taylor at the gallery’s Hong Kong location, the first presentation of the visionary American artist in Asia. Spanning the mid-1970s through the late 1980s, the works on view will demonstrate Taylor’s transition from painting on canvas to making the three dimensional constructions for which he became known.
Moving fluidly between media, Taylor ultimately sought to expand the possibilities of vision in his search for new ways of experiencing and imagining space. His multi-layered investigations of perception provide the viewer with insight into the artist’s idiosyncratic thinking, his methodology, and his playful sense of humor. The exhibition will focus in particular on his canny use of color across media to connect and visually underscore the formal elements of his work.
卓納畫廊欣然宣佈在香港空間呈現阿爾·泰勒的作品,該次展覽將是這位極富遠見卓識的美國藝術家在亞洲地區的首次個展。展覽中的作品橫跨1970年代中期至1980年代晚期,它們將展現泰勒從布面繪畫到三維架構的創作轉變,而藝術家正因其三維創作而廣為人知。泰勒靈活地運用多種創作媒介,以探尋空間體驗和想象的新方式,並拓展觀看方式的可能性。他層次豐富的感知探究,讓觀眾得以瞭解藝術家獨特的思考方式、創作方法論以及詼諧的幽默感。此次展覽將聚焦藝術家不同媒介中的色彩運用,並在視覺上強調其作品中形式元素。
Image: Al Taylor, Untitled, 1974/1977
Al Taylor (1948–1999) began his studio practice as a painter and continued to paint on canvas through 1984. Although he is more widely known for the three-dimensional works he started making in 1985, the artist insisted that he was a painter—not a sculptor—and maintained that his constructions did not "come from any sculptural concerns, but rather from a flatter set of traditions."
阿爾·泰勒(Al Taylor,1948-1999)以畫家身份開始藝術實踐,並且持續布面繪畫的創作直至1984年。儘管他更廣為人知的是自1985年開始的三維作品,但藝術家仍然視自己為一位畫家——而非雕塑家——並且堅定地認為他的創作「無關雕塑性的思考,而是一系列更平坦的傳統。」
“He produced his last images on canvas in 1984. He himself, however, did not regard this as a fundamental break: three-dimensional constructions were ‘a way of getting (leaping) around a simple negative/positive situation in painting which will lead back to painting.’”
—Ulrich Loock in Al Taylor: Rim Jobs and Sideffects, David Zwirner, 2011
「他在1984年創作了自己最後的布面繪畫。不過,他本人並不認為這是一次撼動根基的突破:三維建構是『一種繞過繪畫中簡單的負向/正向情境的(跳躍)方式,而這可以重新導向繪畫』。」
——烏爾里希·洛克,《阿爾·泰勒:車輪圈和副作用》,卓納圖書出版,2011年
Installation view, Al Taylor: Playing with Color, David Zwirner, Hong Kong, 2022
展覽現場,《阿爾·泰勒:色彩的遊戲》,卓納畫廊香港空間,2022年
The exhibition features a number of works from Taylor’s Latin Studies series, which encompasses his last paintings on canvas, drawings, and his first sculptures. He viewed these three-dimensional assemblages as “tools” for exploring vision and investigating spatial perspectives that fueled his practice of working back and forth between media.
此次展覽呈現了來自泰勒《拉丁研究》系列中的數件作品,包括他最後的布面繪畫、畫作以及他最早的雕塑創作。他將這些三維的、組合式創作視為探索視覺和研究空間視角的「工具」,它們有助於他在不同的媒介之間來回往復地進行實踐。
In his Latin Study paintings, Taylor uses bold broad lines to depict a spherical cage-like armature, which is activated by what appears to be an incandescent illumination dancing within its circulating interior. His masterful application of modulated color delineates shadow and light and evokes three-dimensional depth in a two-dimensional format.
在他的《拉丁研究》繪畫中,泰勒用大膽而開闊的線條描繪了一個球體在籠子狀且如電樞般的物件中,它被那些似乎在其周圍循環舞動著的白熾燈所激活。他嫻熟地施加經過調和的色彩,勾勒出光影效果,並在二維的形式中喚醒了三維的縱深。
Al Taylor
阿爾·泰勒
《無題(廣播)》,1985年
以釉彩繪制的木質帚柄、板條、帶粉狀顏料的丙烯及多層強化「富美家」膠木,覆於繪以丙烯顏料的膠合板上
52.4 x 50.2 x 52.7 厘米
“Works like Untitled (Broadcast) ... display the dexterity of Taylor’s vision.... The reticulation of [the relief] forms, when seen frontally, flattens and resembles a two-dimensional drawing. This illusion is contradicted by the shadows the sculpture casts against the wall, which establish a shifting, two-dimensional, time-based drawing in correspondence with the sculpture itself.”
—Michael Rooks in Al Taylor, What Are You Looking At?, High Museum of Art, 2018
「像《無題(廣播)》這樣的作品……展現了泰勒靈巧的視覺……。(浮雕)形態的網狀結構,從正面看會顯得平坦,而且與二維畫作很類似。這樣的視錯覺,與雕塑投射於牆面的陰影產生矛盾,建立起一種變化的、二維的、基於時間的繪畫,並與雕塑本身相互呼應。」
——邁克爾·盧克斯,《阿爾·泰勒,你在看什麼?》,海氏藝術博物館出版,2018年
Al Taylor in his Franklin Street studio, New York, November 1986. Photo © Peter Bellamy
阿爾·泰勒在其富蘭克林街工作室,紐約,1986年11月。攝影 © Peter Bellamy
Installation view, Al Taylor: Playing with Color, David Zwirner, Hong Kong, 2022
展覽現場,《阿爾·泰勒:色彩的遊戲》,卓納畫廊香港空間,2022年
The exhibition also includes examples from Taylor’s Swahili Time series, a group of compositions made following a 1980 trip to Africa. These works are comprised of multiple individual paintings on newsprint, which he arranged in irregular circular formats, and then collaged onto painted wooden supports. Their abstract imagery suggests parts of a broken alphabet, or disjointed segments of a primitive clock that subliminally infers the movement of time.
展覽還囊括了出自泰勒《斯瓦希里時間》系列中的幾件作品,這是藝術家1980年非洲之行後的一組創作。這些作品由多幅獨立的新聞報紙繪畫組成,泰勒將之以不規則的圓形排布,隨後再將它們都拼貼到經過彩繪的木質背板上。作品中的抽象圖像,暗示了破碎的字母表或是簡樸的鐘錶的零部件,它們好像在潛移默化地推進著時間。
“This flow back and forth between media was characteristic of the artist’s nonlinear creative practice. One piece is not preparatory for the next, nor can it be called the culmination of a series: each work proposes a variation in composition. Together, they evoke overlapping episodes in his artistic practice.”
—Allegra Pesenti in Al Taylor, What Are You Looking At?, High Museum of Art, 2018
「這種在媒介之間的往復折返,是藝術家非線性創作實踐的特點。某件作品並非下一件作品的準備,也無法稱之為某個系列中的巔峰之作:每件作品都獨自提出了有關構圖的一種衍變形式。放置在一起時,它們會喚醒他藝術實踐中那些交相重疊的內容。」
——阿萊格拉·佩森蒂,《阿爾·泰勒,你在看什麼?》,海氏藝術博物館出版,2018年
Photograph taken by the artist in his Franklin Street studio, New York, 1987. Estate of Al Taylor archives
照片由阿爾·泰勒于其纽约富蘭克林街工作室拍摄,1987年。阿爾·泰勒藝術遺產資料圖片。
Photograph taken by the artist in his Franklin Street studio, New York, 1987. Estate of Al Taylor archives
照片由阿爾·泰勒于其纽约富蘭克林街工作室拍摄,1987年。阿爾·泰勒藝術遺產資料圖片。
In the early painting Untitled, Taylor enlivens the figure-ground relationships by using contrasting color juxtapositions and tonal shifts to conjure an illusion of movement. The splayed elongated forms in the foreground further activate the composition as they fan out and across the canvas in opposite directions that emanate from the top and bottom edges. This vibrant work possesses a fluid rhythm that opens up multiple perspectives and anticipates the artist’s transition to sculpture.
在他早期的繪畫作品《無題》中,泰勒通過對比強烈的色彩並置和色調轉化,使得圖形與背景之間的關係變得鮮活,並且傳達出一種動態的錯覺。前景中伸展著的細長形體更進一步地激活了畫面,它們以相反的方向在畫布上扇動著,並且從頂部和底部的邊緣發散而出。這幅充滿活力的作品具有流暢的節奏,它開啓了多重視角,並且預示了藝術家向雕塑的過渡轉變。
Untitled: (Pick-Up) #2 belongs to a group of works which incorporate linked segments of colorful wooden broomsticks that Taylor had scavenged from the street trash in New York. These idiosyncratic assemblages often appear to vacillate between two and three dimensions with their exploration of line, shadow, and perspective. The artist’s facility as a colorist is apparent in his precise use of found and applied color, which is a characteristic component of the broomstick sculptures.
《無題:(撒棍遊戲)#2》出自泰勒一組包括了各種彩色木質帚柄的系列,它們是藝術家在紐約街頭的垃圾堆中蒐羅而得的。這些極富特點的組合式作品,常常以其對線條、陰影和視角的探索而徘徊於三維和二維之間。藝術家身為色彩主義者的卓著能力,在他對既有而實用色彩的精准運用中一覽無遺,而這些也正是帚柄雕塑極富特徵的構成部分。
Installation view, Al Taylor: Playing with Color, David Zwirner, Hong Kong, 2022
展覽現場,《阿爾·泰勒:色彩的遊戲》,卓納畫廊香港空間,2022年
“The materials used in the sculptures were broomsticks and shop lumber scraps, hastily screwed or glued together as if each were a brushstroke laid down on paper to see what it would look like on its own and then in combination with others.”
—Robert Storr in Al Taylor, What Are You Looking At?, High Museum of Art, 2018
「雕塑中所用的材料,是帚柄和商店裡的木材碎片,它們被草率地用螺母固定或黏合在一起,彷彿每一根都是在紙本上描繪出來的筆觸,它們想要看看自己單獨存在會是什麼樣,之後和其他帚柄組合在一起又會是什麼樣。」
——羅伯特·斯托爾,《阿爾·泰勒,你在看什麼?》,海氏藝術博物館出版,2018年
Al Taylor, [no title], 1987-1988 (detail)
阿爾·泰勒,《[無題]》(細節),1987-1988年
Al Taylor, White Water, 1988 (detail)
阿爾·泰勒,《急流》(細節),1988年
Photograph taken by the artist in his Franklin Street studio, New York, 1988. Estate of Al Taylor archives
照片由阿爾·泰勒于其纽约富蘭克林街工作室拍摄,1988年。阿爾·泰勒藝術遺產資料圖片。
“Taylor’s ... pieces increase the velocity of line and more directly play upon the perspective lines still so ingrained in our seeing. Like paintings of giant, deviant jumping jacks or chop sticks, their mock perspective seems to recede into or move out of the plane of the wall — making the eye question the materiality that previously seemed so certain.... [His] sleight of hand eschews all bravado in favor of a casual clarity and directness.”
—Klaus Kertess in Al Taylor: Recent Work, Alfred Kren Gallery, 1986
「(泰勒的)作品增強了線條的速率,並且更為直接地讓那些仍然根植於我們視線中的透視線發揮出作用。就像巨大的、離經叛道的跳板或是筷子所構成的繪畫那樣,它們戲仿性的視角,似乎後退或移出了展牆所在的平面——使觀看者的雙眼對此前看似極為確鑿的物質性提出了質疑。(他的)嫻熟手法摒棄了所有虛張聲勢,以此達成一種隨意的明晰和直接。」
——克勞斯·克特斯,《阿爾·泰勒:近期作品》,阿爾弗雷德·科倫畫廊出版,1986年
In Egyptian Painting, Taylor employs a geometric progression of harmonious proportional shapes to manifest the intrinsic tension between flatness and depth. The unpainted space of bare canvas is as important as the painted portions at visually invoking overlapping planes of dimensionality, and by intentionally leaving drips of paint and traces of previous underpainting, the artist playfully contradicts stasis.
在《埃及繪畫》中,泰勒用比例形狀和諧的幾何數列來表現平坦與縱深之間的內在張力。未經處理的畫布上,沒有被顏料塗抹的部分與經過塗畫的部分同等重要,它們在視覺上喚起了維度性相互重疊的平面,並且通過刻意留下顏料滴漏以及此前底層顏料塗抹的痕跡,藝術家饒富趣味地對抗著靜止郁積的狀態。
Installation view, Al Taylor: Playing with Color, David Zwirner, Hong Kong, 2022
展覽現場,《阿爾·泰勒:色彩的遊戲》,卓納畫廊香港空間,2022年
“By pushing back against the literal, and the minimalist mode of critical thinking then in favor, Taylor quietly and confidently announced that he was interested in creating a space for himself, and that conforming seemed both self-defeating and superfluous. He made a space in which things fit and don’t fit together. ”
—John Yau in Al Taylor: Early Paintings, David Zwirner, 2017
「通過對抗字面上的以及當時流行的極簡主義式的批判思維模式,泰勒安靜而充滿信心地宣佈,他有興趣為自己創造一個空間,而順應則顯得不戰自潰而又多此一舉。他確實創造了一個空間,在其中的事物或適當或不適當地共處著。」
——姚強,《阿爾·泰勒:早期繪畫》,卓納圖書出版,2017年
Al Taylor in his Franklin Street studio, New York, 1978. Estate of Al Taylor Archives
阿爾·泰勒在其富蘭克林街工作室,紐約,1978年。
Inquire about works by Al Taylor
Al Taylor
阿爾·泰勒
《無題(廣播)》,1985年
以釉彩繪制的木質帚柄、板條、帶粉狀顏料的丙烯及多層強化「富美家」膠木,覆於繪以丙烯顏料的膠合板上
52.4 x 50.2 x 52.7 厘米