–>American artist Philip Taaffe has two exhibitions currently on display at the Jablonka Galeriein Köln, and nearby Böhm Chapel in Hürth, both in Germany. Taaffe’s work consistently explores the intersections between painting and architecture, anthropology, archaeology, and natural history.
In his work for the Böhm Chapel, Taaffe reveals his interests in sacred spaces and meditative states. The medieval illuminated manuscript is cited as a specific point of reference; its interweavings, flourishes, and architectural unity reveal itself in Taaffe’s reimagining of the sacred document in his works.
Jablonka Galerie displays a different aspect of his work, highlighting Taaffe’s interest in the technique of paper marbling. More than forty small-scale works created between July and September 2011 are currently on display.
Philip Taaffe was born in 1955 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art in 1977, he has had a wide-ranging and diverse career since his first New York City solo exhibition in 1982. Since then, he has traveled widely in the Middle East, India, South America, and Morocco, where he collaborated with Mohammed Mrabet on the book Chocolate Creams and Dollars, consequently translated by Paul Bowles. Taaffe also lived and worked in Naples from 1988-91.
Major exhibitions include Carnegie International, two Sydney Biennials, and three Whitney Biennials. Public collections include the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Currently, Taaffe splits his time between New York City and West Cornwall, Connecticut.
Phillip Taaffe, Anthology (Azzurro) (2009)
Philip Taaffe, Dance of the Phasmidae (2007)
PhilipTaaffe, Calligram (Vermilion) (2002)
– T. Sheena
Related Links:
Artist Site [Philip Taaffe]
Philip Taaffe [Interview]
