Janet Taylor Pickett (born August 13, 1948) is an American artist. Pickett's mixed media works are inspired by her life experience as an African American woman.

Early life and education

Janet Taylor Pickett was born in 1948 in Ann Arbor,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

where she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in fine art. She also studied art at the

Vermont Studio Center The Vermont Studio Center (VSC) is a non-profit arts organization located in the town of Johnson, Vermont. It conducts the largest fine arts and writing residency program in the United States, with a significant population of international artis ...

, Parsons School of Design, and the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...

Career

Taylor Pickett works in various mediums including sculpture, installation, painting, assemblage, and collage. Her work is inspired by her life as an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman and informed by her 30 years teaching at

Essex County College Essex County College (ECC) is a public community college in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. History In August 1966, the Essex County Board of Freeholders approved the creation of Essex County College and in September 1968, more than a ...

in New Jersey. In her own words, "My Blackness is a declarative statement in my work.” Taylor Pickett was one of the artists whose work was exhibited in the 1986 group show ''Progressions: Cultural Legacy'' at

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

is a patron of Taylor Pickett's work. One of the artist's pieces was displayed in the congressional office when Harris was a senator.

Notable exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*2021: ''Necessary Memories'', Jennifer Baahng Gallery, New York, New York *2016: ''Janet Taylor Pickett: The Matisse Series'',

Montclair Art Museum The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is located in Montclair, New Jersey, United States, a few miles west of New York City. Since it opened in 1914 as the first museum in New Jersey that granted access to the public and the first dedicated solely to a ...

, Montclair, New Jersey

Group shows

*2020: ''Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition'',

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips (art collector), Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the ...

, Washington DC *2017: ''African American Women Artists and the Power of Their Gaze'', David C. Driskell Center For the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora,

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, Maryland *1986: ''Progressions: A Cultural Legacy'',

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York, New York

Collections

*"And She Was Born", mixed media, 2017, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. *"Hagar's Dress", print, 2007, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York, the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the

Telfair Museums Telfair Museums, in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, was the first public art museum in the Southern United States. Founded through the bequest of Mary Telfair (1791–1875), a prominent local citizen, and operated by the Georgia Histo ...

, Savannah, Georgia

References

External links

*
Live Interview with ARTnews President and Editorial Director Marion K. Manaker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickett, Janet Taylor 1948 births Artists from Pasadena, California African-American women artists African-American contemporary artists American contemporary artists 21st-century American women artists Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan alumni Living people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American artists 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women