Philip Taaffe (born 1955) is an American artist, who has shown his works all around the world. His work sometimes blended motifs from multiple cultures.

Biography

Taaffe was born in

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, New Jersey and studied at the Cooper Union in New York, gaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1977.

Career

An admirer of Matisse's cut-outs and of Synthetic Cubism, from the mid-1980s he began to borrow images and designs directly from more recent artists. In ''We Are Not Afraid'' (1985), he develops Barnett Newman’s zip motif into a spiral; the title is a reply to Newman's series of paintings ''Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue'' (1966–70). In ''Defiance'' (1986), he reinterprets work by

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in Norwood, Londo ...

. His first solo exhibition was in New York in 1982. He has since been included in exhibitions at Carnegie International, two Sydney Bienniales, and three Whitney Bienniales. His work is held in the

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, the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and wa ...

, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. A painting by Taaffe is in the private collection of Elton John at Woodside, Old Windsor; it had previously hung in

Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-u ...

's townhouse in New York. Taaffe lives and works in New York City.

References

Sources

* ''Philip Taaffe, The Life of Forms, works 1980–2008'' by Brooks Adams, Holger Broeker, Markus Brüderlin, and Kay Heymer; 2008;

Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg The Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg is an art museum in central Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, opened 1994. It presents modern and contemporary art and is financed by the ''Kunststiftung Volkswagen.'' It takes up aspects of the industrial city of Wolfsburg, whic ...

, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern; * ''Philip Taaffe, Composite Nature'' by Stan Brakage; Peter Blum Editions, 1998, New York, * ''Philip Taaffe'' by Enrique Juncosa, Robert Rosenblum, and Robert Creely; IVAM Center del Carme, Generalitat Valenciana, 2000; * * * ''Inside the Artist's Studio'', Princeton Architectural Press, 2015. ()

External links

*
Philip Taaffe on Artcyclopedia

Philip Taaffe at Jablonka Galerie, Berlin

Philip Taaffe at Luhring Augustine, New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taaffe, Philip Living people 1955 births 20th-century American painters 20th-century American printmakers 21st-century American painters 21st-century male artists American abstract artists American male painters Artists from Elizabeth, New Jersey Cooper Union alumni Postmodern artists