ICONS
works by Darren Taylor
On view in the Performance Space November 6 – December 27
Opening Reception / Friday, November 6 / 5 – 8pm during Art ‘Round Town
ICONS is a mixed-media portrait exhibition celebrating the artists, musicians, and cultural figures who helped define the creative landscape of the 20th century. Darren Taylor combines acrylic, ink, paper, newsprint, and found imagery to create raw, energetic works that exist between painting, collage, street art, and cultural archive.
The portraits feature recognizable figures whose images have become embedded in our collective memory. But recognition is only the starting point. From a distance, the works command attention through bold portraits, vivid color, expressive mark-making, and urban-inspired energy. As viewers move closer, layers of newspaper, typography, photographs, historical references, and cultural fragments begin to emerge, revealing narratives hidden within the surface.
The invitation is to lean in—both literally and figuratively. What initially appears to be a portrait becomes something more: a visual record of a life, a career, a cultural moment, and the lasting influence of an individual.
Taylor’s layered process reflects the way memory and history are constructed—fragmented, accumulated, preserved, and continually reinterpreted. Exposed collage, paint splatters, handwritten gestures, distressed surfaces, and bold color collide with carefully rendered portraiture, creating a dynamic tension between chaos and recognition, past and present, and public image and deeper narrative.
Presented inside the Performace Space at 3S Artspace, ICONS also creates a natural connection between visual art and performance. Many of these cultural figures communicated their influence through music, movement, image, and stage presence; Taylor translates that energy into paint and mixed media.
Ultimately, ICONS is a celebration of cultural memory and influence—a collection of portraits that asks viewers to look beyond the familiar face and discover the stories, histories, and fragments that transform a person into an icon.
