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Tony Taylor

Toronto artist with a unique take on portraiture

WORDS BY TASH COWLEY | QUÉBEC CITY | STUDIO SESSIONS

NOV 18, 2022 | ISSUE 4

Tony Taylor
From _After Dark__edited.jpg
"With A Little Help From My Friends" by Tony Taylor
From _After Dark__edited.jpg
From _After Dark__edited.jpg

En route to my favourite butcher in Toronto’s Kensington market this past summer, I noticed a loose line forming along the sidewalk. Would-be buyers pointing, chuckling, and then eventually buying one of Tony Taylor’s wood-block prints from his pop-up kiosk. The most striking feature of his style is perhaps how swiftly it explains itself to the curious observer: various icons of pop culture are depicted with their heads replaced with that of an animal. It’s in the succinct pairing of various heads, with variously famous bodies, that Taylor’s wit—and artistic flair—comes through in vivid colour. This unusual approach to portraiture is (literally) backed-up with an unconventional wooden canvas that make the artworks very hangable.

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