‘Some things are just sweet and then they go sour’—artist Henry Taylor discusses his Paris show, From Sugar to Shit

The established Los Angeles-based artist Henry Taylor is having one thing of a renaissance. Taylor was thrust into the limelight in 2017 when his portray of Jay-Z appeared on the quilt of New York Occasions’s fashion journal T. A significant present of his works is at present working on the Whitney Museum of American Artwork in New York (till 28 January 2024). Crucially he took centre stage in Paris earlier this yr when a present of 30 new work, sculptures and works on paper opened at Hauser & Wirth (From Sugar to Shit, till 7 January 2024), inaugurating the gallery’s new house within the French capital. “Combining figurative, panorama and historical past portray, alongside drawing, set up and sculpture, Taylor’s huge physique of extremely private work is rooted within the individuals and communities closest to him,” the gallery says in an announcement. This interview was initially revealed by our sister newspaper, The Artwork Newspaper France.

The Artwork Newspaper: In June and July, you relocated to a studio in Paris’s Bastille district. The place did you go to and what did you see?

Henry Taylor: Bastille was good, you understand? The situation of the condo and studio was nice. There have been eating places down under… a pleasant little courtyard. Pleasant cats. Pigeons on my windowsill. It was cool. I used to be taking French [lessons] twice per week. I already had mates and knew individuals there.

I went to [see] The Who and to the Kendrick Lamar live performance. Kendrick got here to my studio a number of months in the past—that was the primary time I met him. I labored loads, I felt compelled to. There have been so many clean canvases within the studio. I all the time make works once I journey, not essentially for an exhibition however as a result of I need to. This time, I actually concentrated.

Among the many museums you visited in Paris, which of them had the best affect on you?

I went to the Picasso Museum. I went to see the Basquiat-Warhol present at Louis Vuitton Basis. I noticed the Manet-Degas exhibition on the Musée d’Orsay. And I all the time need to return and take a look at Bonnard and Vuillard, going proper to these guys.

I like going again to the d’Orsay. One factor is the museums don’t change. It’s like going again to your grandma’s home. In seventh grade, I had an English instructor, Teresa Escareno, who was essential to me. I even have a self-portrait of her, which her daughter gave me. So, on the d’Orsay, I take into consideration her. I met her once I was in sixth grade as a result of her husband was a PE [sports] coach. She was my first introduction to portray—to Cézanne and Vuillard, impressionism and post-impressionism. After I began going to her home it was with the basketball group and we might be over on the aspect speaking about portray. She was my first introduction to Bonnard.

What do you imply by the title of the exhibition, From Sugar to Shit?

I used to be making an attempt to invoke my mom within the present, possibly not simply within the type of a portray however within the type of phrases. That’s one thing she would say. Then I considered a distinct title. And I got here again to From Sugar To Shit. It’s the concept that conditions change and that they worsen and worse. Some issues are simply candy after which they go bitter. That’s not being optimistic, I attempt to be a hopeful particular person however that is what I am going by.

What did you paint in Paris?

There have been so many clean canvases there, I needed to assess the state of affairs. If there have been golf golf equipment there, I may need gone {golfing}. The canvas was there, and I feel simply the very fact the supplies had been there, I felt compelled. I all the time make some work once I journey however not for a present. I may need made six or seven giant work and a few smaller ones. Some had been of individuals I met in Paris. This lady from Gabon [or[ my friend Harif invited some people over one night and I painted them.

In the exhibition, there is also a self-portrait in which you wear a striped t-shirt reminiscent of Picasso.

My birthday was here in Paris. And my daughter sent me a cake, the most beautiful one I have ever received. So I thought of the painter Wayne Thiebaud and all the cakes he painted. And I said to myself that I couldn’t cut it, that I was going to look at it. And then there is the painting of my daughter that I painted here in the background. So that is me on my birthday. Perhaps this pose also comes from paintings that I looked at in history but it is mostly an image of being alone. And these words behind on the wall are from [Paul] Gauguin, I feel it’s Tahitian slang, which suggests: “I don’t care.”

After ten years working as a psychiatric technician at Camarillo State Psychological Hospital, what prompted you to vary course and enrol at Cal Arts (California Institute of the Arts) the place you acquired your BA in 1995?

My mom all the time mentioned: “Put your finest foot ahead.” My brothers had been athletes. I by no means considered artwork as a profession. I used to be advised I’d by no means generate profits. I used to be a nurse for ten years. Portray was one thing I had placed on a again burner. I had a instructor, James Jarvaise [at Oxnard Community College], who was truly French and he advised me to use to CalArts. And that’s what I did.

You usually paint people who find themselves near you but additionally people you have no idea. Does understanding your mannequin make an enormous distinction?

Certainly one of my brothers was a barber, so I take into consideration heads in a barber store and also you need to do a pleasant lower! You may take into consideration a distinct method however typically you simply get misplaced. You simply paint the physique. It’s simply most likely just like the surgeon. It might be completely different with the strokes or with the sitter—you need to appease; you don’t need to freak them out.

Do you create your sculptures the best way you paint, by bringing collectively individuals round you or by assembling objects that you just come throughout?

Typically it’s random, even in work. There’s a type of spontaneity; I don’t actually plan every thing. I see somebody, I ask them to sit down for me and I seize my brushes. In the identical means, I seize supplies that resonate with me and later put them collectively. It takes time. Typically I want a serving to hand. Sculpture is, for me, so new and contemporary.

How do you provide you with the concept of ​​a sculpture equivalent to One Tree per Household (2023), for instance?

I used to be in my studio, I used to be enthusiastic about my brother Randy, who was a part of a motion that he launched me to. I take into consideration him and issues I’ve discovered from him. My brother went to Black Panther conferences [he was associated with the Ventura County chapter of the Black Panthers]. Once we consider this motion, we consider iconic objects just like the leather-based jacket that the members wore. The hair is a connection to the Nineteen Sixties motion.

It’s my means of paying homage to my brother and all individuals. It’s me reacting and being considerably nostalgic on the identical time but additionally taking a look at what has been occurring lately. As a result of then there’s additionally the Black Lives Matter motion. We’re not being aggressive; we’re enjoying defence right here. It doesn’t need to be literal, you understand? There’s a sense of pleasure too. My brother is somebody I look as much as, to at the present time. He’s all the time passionate and honest.

Do you all the time paint in your studio?

No. I went to Gorée [off the coast of Senegal], to Kehinde Wiley’s artist residency, Black Rock. I requested him if I might keep an additional week and I painted till 20 minutes earlier than my experience got here. I attempted to color everybody who labored there. For my exhibition in New York in 2019 [at Blum & Poe gallery], I should have made a dozen work: Zadie Smith, Rashid Johnson, Derrick Adams, my daughter… I’d go to my openings with my paint in an egg carton. I used to be in Colombia and painted somebody on the road. I wish to attract museums however I get a bit of embarrassed. I paint in every single place.

Is journey vital to you?

Sure, it is vital. I am at present making an attempt to organise a visit to Burkina Faso however they are saying that they’re having some bother for the time being so I’d go to Egypt, the place I’ve by no means been. I feel it is time for me to go there. In my studio in Paris, I left two work [showing] pyramids. I used to be pondering of [Philip] Guston.

How have you learnt when to cease?

You simply need to search for some time. Typically we don’t even know the way lovely issues are. It’s like a Rothko and it’s actually only a sundown over water: solely two issues, the horizon and the ocean. Why is it so lovely and so minimal? Typically you’ve seen it day by day, however you don’t actually take a look at it.

If I take a look at an early Guston or [Willem] de Kooning and it’s all over, you see that individuals are beginning to remove much less. Typically [it’s] simply the necessities—much less is usually extra.