ART FORUM MAGAZINE, JUNE 2008

UP AND COMING

Justin Taylor is the first to admit that his name isn't well-known in the New York art world.

'I knew when I came out here that it wouldn't be an overnight thing. To be honest, I didn't even think it was going to be an over-decade thing,' he grins. 'I just had to try.'

And it looks as if that effort is starting to pay off. With three pieces in the New Artists Show - something of a misnomer - at the well-respected Mason Gallery, Taylor's already receiving rave reviews (see pg 17), and could finally be starting down that road to fame that eludes so many others.

Taylor, 24, insists it's not about that. 'Sure, you want people to like your work. Of course you do. But - and this is going to sound really cheesy,' he laughs, 'but it's not about making money or being famous, It's about doing well, whatever that means.'

A Pittsburgh native, Taylor's life has already been touched by one form of celebrity - he made the news when he was bashed at his high school prom, after dancing with his thirty-year-old boyfriend.

Understandably, the incident influences his work. 'I was extremely lucky. I escaped with a concussion and nothing else. It doesn't control my life, but sometimes I find myself painting about it. Not just the attack.

Brian coming to my prom...that was just about the happiest I'd ever been at the time.'

The 'Brian' he speaks of is Brian Kinney, CEO of well-respected advertising agency  Kinnetik, Inc., based in NYC. They're still together.

'Do you like the name?' he asks of Kinnetik, an obvious play on Kinney's surname. I tell him it's quite clever.

Leaning back in his chair, Taylor grins proudly, and somehow his answer doesn't come as a surprise. 'I came up with it.'  

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