Cordell B. Taylor was born in 1960 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a sculptor, a furniture maker, and a gallery owner. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Taylor earned a BFA in sculpture from the University of Utah in 1992. Following his graduation, he started his own contemporary arts gallery. He and a fellow artist Lenka Konopasek are founding members of Surface, a nonprofit group promoting contemporary art.

Taylor has received the Salt Lake City Mayor's Award in the Arts (2002) and a Utah Individual Artist Grant from the Utah Arts Council (1998). He also won a merit award at the Springville Museum of Art spring salon in 1999. Explorer (2001), a mixed media work, and Assimilation are examples of his sculpture.

Biography adapted from material supplied by the artist.

Cordell was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1960 . Prior to attending the University of Utah, he worked in the oilfields in the western states and as a iron worker and fabricator from 1979-1987. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture, from the University of Utah in 1992. He is a very strong and productive assemblage artist and constructive sculptor.

After graduating from the U. of U., Cordell Taylor got the idea to start his own gallery exhibiting local, contemporary artists. Salt Lake City, at the time, had a diverse art scene that was under-represented. It all started in his studio, where he worked on his own sculpture. Taylor had two extra rooms in which he chose to exhibit some young artists. In this space, over the next four years, Taylor exhibited 25 artists. Fifteen of the shows were solo exhibitions and he also curated an exhibition for the state's Traveling Arts Program. Working with Peter Strohmeyer, Cordell opened the larger but short-lived Back Alley Gallery.

With the assistance of Lenka Konopasek, a painter from the Czech Republic, Cordell Taylor Studio/Gallery moved to the west side of downtown and began exhibiting international and national artists, as well as local artists, in this new spacious location. Since then, Cordell Taylor has exhibited some 50 artists--25 solo shows and 10 group shows, 7 international artists and 20 national artists. Last year the gallery expanded to Denver, providing 2 venues for artists to exhibit. They also are some of the founding members of Surface an arts related non-profit organization promoting thought-provoking contemporary art.

One of Surface's exhibits, “Emergence,“ was a mentoring program as well as an exhibit, for emerging artists, teaching them how to be successful through documentation and proposal of their work. Another Surface project was for the Utah Arts Festival. Re-Cycled Art was a community awareness installation, turning refuse into art and featuring public workshops with other artists.

Cordell Taylor has also held fund-raisers for local charities and non-profits, such as the Visual Arts Institute and the Humane Society of Utah, among others. Until recently, Cordell had been both a member and a the secretary of the Salt Lake Gallery Association. Recently, Cordell received a commission from the Salt Lake Olympic Committee and was invited to be part of the Kennedy Center for the Arts “Imagination Celebration“ and was featured in Utah Art/Utah Artists, 150 Years, a part of the Cultural Olympiad for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. He was also given an award from the Springville Museum of Art as one of Utah's Top 100 Artists.

Cordell has received awards for artistic achievement from the Masaryk Academy in Prague, Czech Republic and the National Sculpture Society in New York as well as the NEA, The Utah Arts Council and others. His work is included in the collections of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, Wells Fargo, AT&T, Utah Transit Authority, Utah Opera, and he has exhibited in solo and group shows in the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, New York and Los Angeles, as well as throughout the US.

Currently, Cordell is on the Utah Arts Council's Capitol Campaign committee, raising funding to provide Utah artists with more individual artist grants and fellowships for the future. While working on his own commissions, Cordell also continues to propose exhibitions of Utah artists nationally.

ARTIST STATEMENT- This recent series of work “the DECONSTRUCTION series,“ combines engineer components (support columns and beams) into compositions of fluidity, creating pieces that exude a visual and dynamic energy. Taking the beginning structures, Symbols of Stability, I re-assemble the parts into works that invite the viewer into the pieces to explore their complexity and experience their vitality. Through this de-constructive approach, I am in a sense re-ordering chaos, bringing balance to in-balance each piece representing a different form of visual energy. Together the “Series“ creates an entire symphonic composition. The pieces, individually standing on their own integrity and when combined with the others, create a fluid transitional flow between each other.

Cordell Taylor

EXHIBITIONS - SOLO AND GROUP

• 2004 Boulder MoCa, Boulder, CO
• 2004 Access Gallery, S.L.C., UT
• 2004 Gallery Aeillo, Denver, CO
• 2003 Fresh Art, Denver, CO
• 2003 “Love for Sale,“ DenverMoCa, Denver, CO
• 2003Galerie Spektrum, Strakonice, Czech Republic
• 2003 Rocky Mtn. Biennial, Ft. Collins, CO
• 2001 PAPP Gallery, New York, NY
• 2001 Galerie U Prstenu, Prague, Czech Republic
• 2001 Art for New York, Los Angeles, CA
• 2000 Art Gutenberg, Mainz, Germany
• 2000Fax Box Project, Roscommon, Ireland
• 2000 Phillips Gallery, S.L.C., UT
• 1999 Toyomura Int'l Sculpture, Biennial, Japan
• 1999 Roughhouse 23, New York, NY
• 1999 12th Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Lawrence, KS
• 1999 Red Mill Gallery, VSC, Johnston, VT
• 1998-1992 Many Utah, Czech Republic and New York shows.

ART RELATED EXPERIENCE

• 1987-2005 Owner Cordell Taylor Inc, S.L.C., UT
• 1993-2003 Owner Cordell Taylor Gallery, S.L.C., UT
• 1997-2002 Member Salt Lake Gallery Assoc.
• 2001-2003 Member Denver Art Dealers Assoc.
• 2000-2003 Utah Arts Council Capitol Campaign Committee
• 1997 Founding Member SURFACE, Inc.

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION

• 2002 S.L.C. Mayor's Award in the Arts
• Utah Individual Artist Grant, Utah Arts Council
• 1999 Vermont Studio Center, Artists Grant, Johnson,VT
• Spring Salon, Merit Award, Springville MOA, Springville,UT
• 1998 Utah'98, Jurors Award, Utah Arts Council
• 1996 Prize at Masark Academy of Arts, Prague, Czech Republic
• 1993 Pietro and Alfrieda Montana Award, National Sculpture Society, New York, NY

Contact this artist: ctaylor@xmission.com

Biography courtesy of the artist

Newspaper Articles

"A Tribute to World Aids Day." The Salt Lake Tribune, December 1, 1994.

"Alternative Art Hangs by a Thread." The Salt Lake Tribune, June 8, 1997.

"Art Canvass." The Deseret News, December 14, 2003.

"Art Canvass." The Deseret News, September 28, 2003.

"Art Canvass." The Deseret News, November 22, 1992.

"Art Canvass." The Deseret News, June 14, 1992.

"Artist Grant Recipients." The Deseret News, December 8, 2002.

"Art: Art Scene Takes Quantum Leap with The Lab." Denver Post, May 16, 2004.

"Arts Briefing." Rocky Mountain News, October 23, 2003.

"Arts Fest, Girl Scouts and Realtors celebrate." The Salt Lake Tribune, July 13, 2003.

"Art Notes: Crafts Exhibit Opens in Brigham City." The Salt Lake Tribune, February 24, 1991.

"ART Paint the town red." Denver Post, August 31, 2003.

"Beehive State of Mind." The Salt Lake Tribune, December 8, 2002.

"Caption Only: Industrial Art in Downtown S.L." The Deseret News, October 19, 2003.

"Coming Up: Visual Art." The Salt Lake Tribune, February 18, 2001.

"Coming Up: Visual Art." The Salt Lake Tribune, July 16, 2000.

"Coming Up: Visual Arts." The Salt Lake Tribune, November 14, 1999.

"Coming Up: Visual Art." The Salt Lake Tribune, January 10, 1999.

"Coming Up: VISUAL ART." The Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 1998.

"Coming Up: VISUAL ARTS." The Salt Lake Tribune, November 9, 1997.

"Critic's Choice." The Salt Lake Tribune, October 31, 1997.

"Coming Up: Visual Arts." The Salt Lake Tribune, September 15, 1996.

"Coming Up: Visual Arts." The Salt Lake Tribune, January 16, 1994.

"Daring, Difficult Show Worth Time." The Deseret News, May 21, 2000.

"Family Ties Bring Bayer's Work to Nelson Gallery." Rocky Mountain News, November 28, 2003.

"Galas Benefit Rape Recovery Center, Arts Festival, Riding Program." The Salt Lake Tribune, July 8, 2001.

"Galleries Hang New Works for Stroll." The Deseret News, November 22, 1992.

"Galleries Highlight Many Media." The Deseret News, June 14, 1992.

"Gifts of Art That Say 'Happy Holidays'." The Salt Lake Tribune, November 28, 1999.

"Here's Art In Your Eye!" The Salt Lake Tribune, May 19, 2001.

"Imagination Celebration this Weekend." The Deseret News, September 21, 2001.

"Inside & Out." The Salt Lake Tribune, November 22, 2003.

"In the Limelight." The Salt Lake Tribune, August 8, 1993.

"May We Suggest?" The Salt Lake Tribune, June 19, 1998.

"North Mountain Artists Invite You to Walk into Their World." The Deseret News, May 20, 1990.

"Now Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, February 13, 2000.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, June 27, 2004.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, December 2, 2001.

"S.L. Art School Hoping to Open Its Doors To More Students Through Scholarships." The Salt Lake Tribune, January 15, 2000.

"S.L.C. Mayor's Award Will Go to Four During Arts Festival." The Salt Lake Tribune, May 5, 2002.

"Surface Adds Significant Ripples To Salt Lake's Placid Art Scene." The Salt Lake Tribune, November 3, 1996.

"The Year in Review: 1992." The Deseret News, December 27, 1992.

"Three of Taylor's displays offer good models." Denver Post, May 30, 2003.

"'Tis the Season to Deck Your Walls for Life." The Deseret News, November 22, 1992.

"Utah Arts Council Individual Artist Grants for March 2001." The Deseret News, April 29, 2001.

"Utah Visual Artists Sense an Olympic-Size Snub." The Salt Lake Tribune, April 8, 2001.

"Utah Artists Push a Games Showcase." The Deseret News, March 25, 2001.

"Utah Cuts Its 1 Percent Solution for Arts." The Salt Lake Tribune, March 11, 2001.

"Vigils, Services to Mark AIDS Day Monday." The Salt Lake Tribune, November 28, 1997.

"Visual Arts. Denver Art Museum sets pace; can other institutions keep up?" Denver Post, July 1, 2003.

"Visual Arts Calendar." The Salt Lake Tribune, December 30, 1994.

"Young artist's exhibit shows she's one to watch." Denver Post, September 12, 2003.

Books

Konopasek, Lenka, and Cordell Taylor. Lenka Konopasek: obrazy/painting; Cordell Taylor: objekty/sculpture. S.l: s.n, 1995.

Olpin, Robert S., William C. Seifrit, and Vern G. Swanson. Artists of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1999.

Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, Donna Poulton and Janie L Rogers. 150 Year Survey Utah Art & Artists. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2002.

Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. Utah Painting and Sculpture. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1997.