Untitled (McGrath)

When he traveled to Africa in 1980, Taylor became fascinated with the conception of time he encountered, more fluid than the twenty-four-hour cycle of the Western world. During the following years he con- ceived several series of works in which he tried “to visualize time.” “I would like my art to be like looking at a clock,” he explained, “a combination of choices, always chang- ing, effortless, and irreversible.” The motif in the present work evokes at once a clock and a wheel, also a symbol of time. The use of pages from the New York Times Magazine reflects Taylor’s desire to rely on materials at hand, another lesson rooted in his time in Africa. “There is no trash there,” he recalled. “They use everything.”

Al Taylor (1948–1999)
Untitled (McGrath), 1982
Acrylic paint on printed magazine pages
Mounted on paper
The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of Debbie Taylor; 2019.121
© 2019 The Estate of Al Taylor