Johnny Taylor - Paintings

Johnny Taylor (born September 26, 1971) is an American painter known for his colorful, pop culture-fueled paintings of "the heroes, the memories and memorabilia, and the pop art/graffiti/kitsch that make up America."

Taylor was born in the town of Helena, Arkansas and was raised mainly in and around Memphis, Tennessee. He studied Art History at the University of Memphis, graduating in 1996.

Johnny Taylor started drawing as soon as he was old enough to hold a pencil and quickly exhausted the big three subjects all artistic little boys are required to depict: spaceships, monsters and racecars. A true child of the 70's, he soon moved on to the art/music/film troika of Mad Magazine, KISS and Star Wars while still in grade school. By age 10 he was producing a weekly comic strip for the local paper and had found his calling.

Johnny started college intending to pursue studio art but instead was drawn to the Art History classes that met across from the art studios at the University of Memphis. Jasper Johns, Stuart Davis, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat inspired Johhny. He was also influenced by the regional art of his native American South, especially by Southern folk artists' use of text as both a thematic and decorative element. The Quilts of Gee's Bend are good example. He also draws inspiration from graffiti art, specifically the stylized, single gesture marks of graffiti "tagging".

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more of Johnny: http://johnnytaylorart.com/