The Hit List, 2012, Terry Taylor
Benito Mussolini, Robert Mugabe, Starvation, Osama bin Laden
Oil on linen, 22xm x 19cm
Provenance: Steve Livesey Galleries, Melbourne.
Exhibited: Steve Livesey Galleries, Melbourne 2012.
Terry Taylor paints one thing only, human skulls. Her oil paintings explore human skulls in many variations, including representations of historical figures, arranged in medieval and royal portraits, and funereal arrangements. Travelling regularly to Europe, Taylor documents skulls she encounters from across the span of Western development in various degrees of decay. Whilst her chosen subject matter is macabre, Taylor approaches her skulls with wit and humour (1).
Taylor created The Hit List in 2012 and 2013, as a collection of miniature portraits of 90 of the most infamous characters in history. Stripped back to their skulls, they are deprived of the humanity in their portraits, much as they acted in their lives. This collection epitomises humans as a race of unruly and instinctive barbaric, corrupt, demonic and hideous beings with greed and possession as an instinctive nature.
Other works by this artist: