Visual artist and poet Michael Kahlil Taylor’s latest solo exhibit “Beats Rhymes & Mike” features photo/mixed media collage, wood engraved wall relief, and large scale paintings based on influence from internet news media, literary works, and music studies during the past few months.
The circular oil & acrylic based wood engravings and photo montages are similar to work recently show during 2008 in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas Southern University Museum, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston & Deborah Colton Gallery. The artwork titles are a mixed of specific musicians and writers who influenced the piece such as Bjork, Adrian Piper, Kahlil Gibran, Antilbalas, and JDilla.
Other large scale work in the exhibition such as “Water Scarcity” & “Supply & Demand” are based on a series shown at Texas Southern University and South Dallas Cultural Arts Center that reflect Taylor’s visual response to the global socioeconomic changes and information communicated though excess digital media. The over 10ft tall work on paper “Economic Imbalances” references the layering of internet news concerning Societe Generale, a 2008 falling U.S. Spy satellite and Federal Reserve pre-recession quotes.
Taylor was born in 1979 right outside New Orleans, Louisiana and is a graduate of Houston’s High School for Performing and Visual Arts and received his BFA from the University of Houston. He is also a 2008 recipient of the HAATX Individual Artist Grant which help produce his 2008 multimedia installation at Project Row Houses. Taylor also coached TSU’s Poetry Slam Team in National Collegiate Competition and performed spoken word with Taylor McFerine via Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.
