There’s currently a spate of shows by ‘old’ artists that look as if they could have been created yesterday. Richard Hamilton’s early ICA installations, for instance, wouldn’t find themselves out of place amid the latest offerings at Vilma Gold or Sadie Coles. Similarly, Al Taylor’s knocked-about minimalism looks thoroughly on-trend. In fact, the works on display here were made decades ago, by a late American artist who is having his first solo show at David Zwirner’s London branch.
Taylor, who died in 1999, spent his career making art (which he referred to as 'drawings in space') out of unpromising bits and bobs – sometimes scavenging New York City streets – and an atmosphere of artful dishevelment is what first hits you first in this sparse but sprightly show. Off-cuts of painted wood are raised aloft on spindly wire legs to create nest-like forms, or are threaded together to create faltering totems. Taylor seems to surfs a Native American vibe in the spiky ‘Mohawk (Hairstyle)’ (1988), which protrudes from one wall, attached to Formica. But he may just as well be talking about the street culture of 1980s New York.
Here, resemblances – to webs, headdresses, musical instruments – are only fleeting. Just as you think you’ve pinned Taylor down, he’s off, serving up another reference – to Russian Constructivism, African sculpture – with a wry sense of humour that makes you want to stick around.
Martin Coomer