Maxwell Taylor Coming to UT as Studio-F Visiting Artist Feb. 15–26

The University of Tampa community as well as the public will have a unique opportunity to see nationally acclaimed artist Maxwell Taylor working on campus as he creates monoprints for UT’s STUDIO-f visiting artist program Feb. 15–26.

An exhibition of Taylor’s work, including 16 woodcuts that explore social, economic and political subjects, will be on view Feb. 1–26 at the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery. On Tuesday, Feb. 23, Taylor will be joined by Erica James, an assistant professor in the Yale University history of art and African American studies departments, to give a Gallery Talk at 10:30 a.m. in the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery. The STUDIO-f open house and gallery reception will be Friday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m., with an opportunity to meet the artist.

“My interest is in strong subjects, especially the downtrodden and human survival,” said Taylor. “I’m told that some people think my pictures show bitterness, but that is not how I see things. These are not pictures of persecuted or oppressed people … They are simply studies of the nature of man and of the two persons in each of us.”

Throughout his career, Taylor has explored themes of universality and despair, celebration and atrocity. He believes the technique should fit the theme and uses many creative combinations to achieve his vision. He is renowned for his ceramics and paintings, but it is in printmaking that he really excels. In his “Immigration Series” he uses woodcuts, but in a challenging large format.

Taylor was born in 1939 in Nassau, Bahamas. Discovered as a schoolboy, Taylor was first taught art by Don Russell. In 1959, he was apprenticed to the fabled Chelsea Pottery as a ceramic designer. He moved to New York in the late 1960s, studying at the Art Students League of New York, the Pratt Graphic Center and Bob Blackburn’s printmaking workshop. After 20 years in New York, he traveled south to the Carolinas and then to Europe observing the social, economic and political dynamics of many cultures but never forgetting his roots in the Bahamas.

The exhibition will be the first on display at the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery with new LED lighting that was funded through a gift from the senior class of 2015.

According to Steve Kucera, associate professor of biology and member of the UT Faculty Sustainability Committee, the LED lights will utilize about 75 percent less energy than the conventional halogen lighting in the gallery with no reduction in the quality of light illuminating the displayed art. Because LED lights are much cooler when lit than halogen lights, less energy will be consumed to cool the studio as well, resulting in additional energy savings.

“UT joins the growing list of art galleries that have transitioned to this lighting technology and the effort fits nicely with the University’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Kucera.

The gallery is located on campus at the R. K. Bailey Art Studios, 310 N. Blvd. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, go to http://studiof.utarts.com or contact Dorothy Cowden, gallery director, at dcowden@ut.edu or (813) 253-6217.