In Which Taylor packs a surprise “Punch” as a Cartoonist
I know I have talked at great length over the past few weeks about the Parallax art fair but I couldn’t let this edition go by without mentioning the cartoon that Taylor has drawn for his blog entitled “Loz Taylor a Warhol wannabe?” normally I would post a copy of it here on my blog but why don’t you check it out at http://stored-images.blogspot.com/
Of course I have known for some time, since doing the early biographical entries of the diaries in fact that my friend Loz Taylor was much earlier in life a cartoonist of some ability having been published in several local papers. He began this part of his career after being granted a paid, youth work experience place doing basically whatever he was good at! He chose drawing cartoons and this kept him in very reasonable style for a teenager whilst he also indulged himself in his other interests of Horse Racing, gambling and other youthful pursuits!
His Cartoons covered several different styles and he loved from the start, that cartoons were totally by definition illustrated ideas, showing that from his very early teens he has had a bias for art that is ideas based.
Running through his cartoon works are two main themes. There is a keen wit which is softened and distanced from the hard edged and often coarse humour of the day due in part to the young Taylors love of earlier cartoon books such as Punch and the popular American cartoon books of the 1950’s and an equally keen cynicism based largely on his experiences in and around the Methodist Church his Parents used to tend. He witnessed a great deal of hypocrisy there and it left its mark. It is also important to mention I think at this time that almost all of his cartoons were drawn in either Birmingham or Dudley Central Libraries which provided not only access to an endless supply of works of reference, a great boon to an aspiring artist but also to a haven away from home.
Surroundings at these respected establishments were plush; Taylor had a desk to himself, a table lamp, and quiet surroundings with only the Church clock to alert him to the time on the hour every hour. All was very different from the frankly sub-standard accommodation provided by the Church for his family, there was a quality here it was a window into another world. Taylor paints a vivid picture as he recalls that as he walked into the Libraries he felt he was “leaving the real world and escaping from reality one floor at a time” it was truly a glimpse of what life could have been perhaps a vision for a young man of what his life could be in the future.
Gentle it may be but look here at the expressions on the father and son characters, the acceptance and pleasure on the face of the child seeing the plough pub floating unnaturally in the sky and the father, wearing a slightly world weary expression. Either he is just upset that his favourite pub is floating around in space or, and this is what I would like to think he is just resigned to disappointment in the fact that his son accepts its appearance without question!!
We have all been in conversation with someone and felt that warm glow when something funny we have said has been received with the laughter we had hoped for. It is a glorious affirmation indeed, but to have an idea and then to be able to perfectly execute it on paper as a cartoon is a separate skill. It is a cold black and white medium and you have to immediately take the viewer out of whatever mood they are in or whatever they are thinking about, maybe the worries of the day and transport them to your characters world and make them smile or even laugh, that is no mean feat! The following cartoon did that for me!
This, my own personal favourite of Taylor’s Cartoons is a study in hope and despair, it shows what could be any one of us having got dressed to face the day, we psyche ourselves up for whatever it can throw at us and then we fall unceremoniously at the first hurdle, that split second realization that we have failed at something so unimportant as forgetting our sandwiches instantly removing all our confidence and bravado and reminding us of our infinite fallibility. Once again I am drawn to the expression created by a simple single line in the third frame, have you ever seen dejection done better?
Above Martin has the sympathy of us all, or perhaps his wife has? Here is a wonderful statement poking fun at the ridiculous nature of certain advertising hook lines. Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rollo? You might ask instead how likely your relationship is to succeed if, not sacrificing your last chocolate to your loved one could lead to its downfall?? Beware what lies in store for the poor man of the house when an inability to choose the correct wash cycle could lead to a future of self- harming!
Drawing under his usual pseudonym of Laurie, Taylor here surely speaks to many a hen-pecked husband or son-in-law (Or both) just observe the despair in his face and the ultra-dark dress of the wife and mother or mother-in-law who are far too busy gossiping to notice that the poor sap behind them is becoming the first human “Gas guzzler” also note the over long nose of the “Nosy” Mother-in-law, perfect characterisations.
Taylor tells me it has become obvious to him of late that in not releasing all of his work he is restricting what the potential collector can see of his work and in doing so restricting many possible business opportunities also. Below in “Just can’t face Lorraine” we see what Taylor tells me is his reminder not to hold on to an idea too long without putting it into the public domain. Approximately fifteen years after he drew it and recorded the phrase on paper, he saw the same phrase utilizing the same implication on a bill hoarding! I have left the explanation of the image to the Artist as thankfully he saw fit to record it at the time.
Below: we see a rare but nonetheless well observed political statement from Taylor portraying his reflection of how he saw life and its effect on us all from the 1960’s to the 1990’s.
Below: Again the gentle side of Taylor’s humour, the hat and lack of hair on the man in this piece possibly giving clues as to the time period.
During his time as a cartoonist Taylor also flirted for a while with the idea of being a comic- book artist in the super hero style (Below) thankfully however Taylor’s humour has since proved a lot more difficult to defeat than the hapless “Hula Hoop Man” We can only hope for the future of the art world that all the people in the City Hall Library were eventually saved, but hopefully by a super hero representative of a more robust snack, one with a tougher hide maybe, perhaps Pork Scratching Man?
Whilst it is true to say that some of Taylor’s cartoon work does highlight a cynical view of the world, religion and politics this is juxtaposed by the usual character of the man himself who I have always found to be a firmly hopeful and positive individual who propels himself forward with great power and enthusiasm in a world of numerous knock backs and great competition. We are at the end of our meeting now and we have chatted for two hours about what was only a fleeting part of Taylor’s art career, a part that has been put to bed for many years now to enable him to concentrate on his “Fine art” work but I can’t help but smile when I see him pack away the works he has been showing me, they are lovingly placed in individual plastic wallets which are then filed in two large binders covered in his own art work, I know there is a pride in everything this man does, but more importantly perhaps a knowledge that nothing is wasted and that perhaps when the time is right…after all you never know when you may need to produce a cartoon, oh isn't that where we came in??
Richard Gibbons 28th September 2011
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