John Taylor: Submerge
12:00 PM     Boise Art Museum

John Taylor: Submerge
Dec 22, 2007 - May 25, 2008

Self-trained California artist, John Taylor, grew up near the ocean and from childhood was steeped in boating and shipping lore.  After setting up practice as a landscape architect, Taylor returned to his childhood fascination with the sea and began to create sculptures of sunken and damaged ships.  Made of weathered wood and metal, and a host of other components such as old earrings, computer motherboards, curved wire coat hangers and parts from worn-out children's toys, each boat built by the artist is his personal (albeit researched) version of an actual, historical vessel, long forgotten in American history.  The title of the exhibition, Submerge, reflects on these historic ships' demise at sea, their past as wreckage, and their reclamation from a long forgotten history by the artist.  This emerging artist was recently featured in High Tide: Imaging Maritime Space at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, as well as Garde-Rail Gallery in Seattle, which focuses on folk and outsider art.  The Submerge exhibition will feature 21 ships created between 2000 and 2007 as well as sculptures examining other aspects of maritime lore and culture, including a large whale and several penguins.