AJ Taylor

At first glance

22 Sep 2026 – 10 Oct 2026

As if by way of introduction of his work to Victorian audiences, AJ Taylor’s first solo exhibition in Melbourne is playfully titled At First Glance. This cheeky rejoinder could equally apply to the artist’s deceptively simple landscape paintings, which, at “first glance” appear to be beautifully painted Australian landscapes in the well-worn tradition of impressionist precursors like McCubbin and Roberts. However, on closer inspection, as we notice the painterly blips and bumps that comprise the complex surfaces of the artist’s paintings, we realise that there’s something else entirely going on here. All is not quite as it seems.

Taylor’s unique approach to painting was originally developed out of an understandable aversion to the expanse of the white canvas that confronted him at the beginning of each new work. Faced with the hopes, expectations and unrelenting pressure of this seemingly innocuous surface, the artist began to paint on the boards he had formerly used as palettes – relieving himself of this anxiety by starting each work with something that was already there. Over time, this led to the development of a technique that sees him build up multiple surfaces of ground in house paint that is then sanded back with an electric sander, creating a completely flat, almost chalky surface that reveals the array of colours that have sat below the surface.

Taylor has now accumulated a ‘library of surfaces’ that he considers and matches to the image he wants to create; sometimes his intended scene and surface click into place, and at others, they are allowed to jar. Regardless, the image appears coherent at a distance, breaking into a plethora of painterly marks the closer we move to its surface. Here too, the notion of a “first glance” is in play, as we realise the role we serve as viewers in working to consciously pull what is essentially a painted abstraction into a landscape that we innately know and love. Taylor’s skilful use of the Australian Impressionists’ playbook (their capacity to capture “our light” and “our landscape”) and its marriage with his idiosyncratic technique ensures that his paintings of the natural world can be appreciated and enjoyed as both realism and abstraction, and as such, deliver a very contemporary experience.

Kelly Gellatly - 2026