joe's cafe (2007) Painting by Tag

Tag’s Quirky Characters

Steve Taylor -is one of Cornwall’s most original and creative naïve painters. Although his work has sometimes been likened to Beryl Cook’s ‘but with attitude’, the comparison is only superficial. Taylor’s characters exist in an altogether harsher world and blend humour with a deeper pathos. In fact, his colourful repertoire of ordinary folk, like ‘Albert’ or ‘Fred’ or ‘the Belles of Camborne’, seem to accept their place in the world with a quiet stoicism. They are wonderful little vignettes of people with enlarged heads, squeezed into their picture frames, engaged in absolutely nothing of importance. Like actors in a Beckett or Pinter play, they live such ordinary lives. There is no stage-acting here though, which is why we can so easily empathise with them - they remind us of our first date perhaps all those years ago, or that ride in a much-loved Morris Minor or that visit to the seaside, when we contentedly watched the world pass by from our deckchairs. There is nothing cosmetic or manicured about these characters: their sagging eyes are lined and their world-weary faces express angst or resignation. These paintings cut through all society’s pretensions and offer the viewer a fly-on-the-wall vision of an earthier world that seems to have been long forgotten or ignored. (JF)

• Nationality: UNITED KINGDOM
• Date of birth : 1956
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary British Artists