Biography
David Taylor’s artwork examines place, territory, history and politics. Exhibited internationally, his projects reveal how borders can function not only as spatial demarcations, but also as an amplifying device particularly attuned to geo-political, environmental and social conditions. Pursuing projects that chronicle the changing circumstances of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, he was awarded a 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship and has released two monographs–Working the Line (Radius Books, 2010) and Monuments: 276 Views of the United States – Mexico Border (Radius Books and Nevada Museum of Art, 2015). His artwork is in the permanent collections of numerous institutions including the Nevada Museum of Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the New Mexico Museum of Art and the MFA Houston. Widely published, Taylor’s projects have been featured in outlets such as Art LTD., The Guardian, The New Yorker blog, Politico, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Places Journal, PREFIX PHOTO, Fraction Magazine, the Mexico/Latin America Edition of Esquire Magazine and Arquine. Exhibition venues include the The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, the MCA San Diego, the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington DC, Museo de las Artes Universidad de Guadalajara, Oficina de Proyectos Culturales, MFA Houston, Utah Museum of Fine Arts and the Boise Art Museum.
Most recently Taylor was awarded a 2019 residency at Proyecto Siqueiros: La Tallera in Cuernavaca, Mexico, a 2019 Arizona Commission for the Arts Research and Development Grant and the 2023 Tucson Museum of Art Contemporary Art Society Prize. In 2023-24 his collaborative work with Marcos Ramírez ERRE travels to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in the exhibition Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea.
Resumé (selected)
Education
MFA University of Oregon 1994
BFA Tufts University and The School of the Museum of Fine Arts 1989
Awards and Commissions
Best Short, LA Documentary Film Festival 2023
Tucson Museum of Art Contemporary Art Society Award 2023
Arizona Commission for the Arts Research and Development Grant 2019
Residency, Proyecto Siqueiros: La Tallera, Cuernavaca, Mexico 2019
Comission, Unsettled Landscapes, SITE Santa Fe 2014
Beaumont Newhall Grant, New Mexico Council on Photography 2012
Southwest Book Award 2011
AIGA, 50 Books/50 Covers 2011
Southwest Books of the Year 2010
International Photography Awards, Gold and Silver Metals 2010
Critical Mass Top 50 2009
Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation 2008
Public Commission, Horak Development/U.S. Border Patrol 2006
Public Commission, United States General Services Administration 2004
Faculty Minigrant, New Mexico State University 2004
Private Commission, Ryan & Sanders, LLP 2003
Faculty Minigrant, New Mexico State University 2002
Nexus Press Project Grant, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center 2001
Faculty Minigrant, New Mexico State University 2000
Merit Award “Current Works” 1998
Linfield College Faculty Development Grant 1997
Purchase Award “Evolving Medium: Biennial Photography Exhibition” 1994
Exhibitions
One and Two Person
Pidgin Palace Arts, Tucson, AZ 2024
AIPAD, New York, NY 2019
Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, NY 2019
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 2018
Galaría de Casa de la Cultura, Colima, Col., México 2018
MUSA - Museo de las Artes Universidad de Guadalajara, México 2018
Oficina de Proyectos Culturales, Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico 2017
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, Baja California 2017
Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington DC 2016
MCA San Diego, San Diego, CA 2016
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ 2016
Wichita Falls Museum of Art, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX 2016
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV 2016
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, Boston, MA 2014
Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver, CO 2014
El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX 2011-2012
James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM 2011
Ballroom Marfa/Crowley Theater, Marfa, TX 2010
Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, NM 2010
Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 2010
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefiled, CT 2009
SRO Photo Gallery, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 2009
ISIS Gallery, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 2008
SPAS Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 2008
Northwest Museum of Art and Culture, Spokane, WA 2002
SAVAGE, Portland, OR 2002
El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX 2001
Photo Gallery, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 2001
Ironton Studios and Gallery, Denver, CO 2001
Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO 2001
Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX 2000
Quartersaw Gallery, Portland, OR 1998
SFA Gallery, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX 1997
Quartersaw Gallery, Portland, OR 1996
University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene, OR 1995
Obscura Gallery, Portland, OR 1994
Small Group
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV 2025-27
Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, NY 2024-25
Modal gallery, School of Digital Arts (SODA) – Manchester Metropolitan University, Mancheser, UK 2024
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC 2023
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 2021-23
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT 2023
Filter Space, Chicago, IL 2022
Jordan Schnitzer Museum, Eugene, OR 2022
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA 2022
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI 2021
Boise Art Musuem, Boise, ID. 2021
Ex Convento del Carmen, Guadalajara, Jal.,México 2020
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE 2020
Oficina de Proyectos Culturales, Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico 2020
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM 2019
Oficina de Proyectos Culturales, Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico 2018-19
Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, ID 2018
Glassell Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA 2018
Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA 2018
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA 2018
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM 2017-18
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ 2017
MOCA Tucson, Tucson, AZ 2017
James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM 2016
Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL 2016
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA 2015
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ 2014
SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM 2014
The Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2014
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA 2013
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ 2013
Philadelphia Photographic Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA 2013
James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM 2013
Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery, Pima Community College Tucson, AZ 2012
UTSA Art Gallery, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 2012
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 2012
Visual Arts Building Main Gallery, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 2012
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM 2011-2012
Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 2011
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, IL 2010
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ 2010
516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM 2009
Guestroom Gallery, Portland, OR 2009
New Mexico State Capitol Rotunda Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2008
Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Ctr. for the Visual Arts, Univ. of Texas at El Paso, TX 2006
Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 2004
Landmark Arts, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 2004
Eric Dean Gallery, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN 2003
SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA 2001
Visual Arts Gallery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 2001
Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 2001
Port Angeles Art Center, Port Angeles, WA 2001
Everette Community College, Everette, WA 2000
S. K. Josefsberg Studio, Portland, OR 1999
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA 1999
Hoffman Gallery, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR 1998
Corvallis Art Center, Corvallis, OR 1998
Ball State University Museum of Art, Muncie, IN 1997
Benton County Historical Museum, Philomath, OR 1996
Quartersaw Gallery, Portland, OR 1995
Renshaw Gallery Linfield College, McMinnville, OR 1995
CUNY Lehman College, Bronx, NY 1995
Collections
The Briscoe Center for American History, Univeristy of Texas at Austin, TX
Davidson College, Davidson, NC
El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, Santa Fe, NM
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Nelson-Atkins Musuem of Art, Kansas City, MO
Nevada Museum of Art, Center for Art+Environment, Reno, NV
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum, Utah State University, Logan, UT
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Deigo, CA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX
University of Washington Special Collections, Seattle, WA
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT
Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia, WA
Representation
Pidgin Palace Arts
pidginpalacearts.com
1110 S. 6th Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701
phone: 310.463.0216
Rick Wester Fine Art
www.rickwesterfineart.com
rwfa@rickwesterfineart.com
phone: 505.989.1601