Taylor Davis (born 1959) born in the United States of America, rose to recognition as an artist and a teacher. She was best known for her innovative wood sculptures.

Early life and education

Davis was born in Palm Springs, California, and grew up in the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Davis earned a Diploma of Fine Arts at the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachus ...

; a Bachelor of Science degree in Education at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

; and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the

Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts is a graduate program associated with Bard College that grants Master of Fine Arts degrees. Founded in 1981, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts (otherwise known as the Bard MFA program) is a nontraditi ...

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

Career

Davis has been a professor at the

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

since 1999, and is also the co-chair of the sculpture program at Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. In fall 2008, she was visiting faculty member at the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. Her work has been widely shown across the United States, and Davis was included in the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

in 2004. Davis is represented by DODGEgallery, in New York City.

Artwork

Davis incorporates commonplace industrial and construction materials into her work, sometimes with a rough finish (such as pieces of wood with the bark still attached), but often with a fine craftsmanlike finish and precision

joinery Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...

. Even though her raw materials are everyday, mundane materials, she often sorts carefully through them, looking for the ideal wood grain or texture. Much of Davis' best-known sculpture has been constructed from wood elements, such as 2x4

dimensional lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, plywood, or wood moldings. For example, her ''Untitled'' (2001), in the permanent collection of the ICA Boston, has been compared to a shipping pallet, a garden gate, or a livestock enclosure. It is meticulously constructed of clear-grain pine, and conceals

infinity mirror The infinity mirror (also sometimes called an infinite mirror) is a configuration of two or more parallel or nearly parallel mirrors, creating a series of smaller and smaller reflections that appear to recede to infinity. Often the front mirror ...

s inside, which reveal an infinite visual space within a simple everyday structure. Davis has also exhibited non-sculptural artwork, including collages and works on canvas.

Grants and awards

* 1999 Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant * 2001 Institute of Contemporary Art Artist Prize * 2002 Association of International Art Critics Award * 2003 St Botolph Foundation Grant * 2007 Association of International Art Critics Award * 2010–2011 residential fellowship at the

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

Major exhibitions

Publications

References

External links

* * In collaboration with

Nicole Cherubini Nicole Cherubini (born 1970, Boston, MA) is an American visual artist and sculptor. She lives and works in New York. Work Working largely in sculpture and mixed media, she has presented solo exhibitions at Samsøñ (Boston, MA), Perez Art Museum ...

br>"Davis, Cherubini, in Contention"
MIT List Visual Arts Center * Harris, Lariss
"Taylor Davis: Samson Projects"
''ArtForum'', Summer 2006

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Taylor 1959 births Living people American sculptors American woodworkers American women artists Bard College alumni Bard College faculty Massachusetts College of Art and Design faculty School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni Women woodworkers American women academics 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists