Fonds F29 - John Taylor Fonds

Canadian artist John Taylor was born on Vancouver Island, BC on July 2, 1946. Taylor majored in media studies photography at Ryerson University, Toronto, ON. John Taylor’s “photographic focus is architecture – spaces of people and human interaction. Taylor divides his work into two main categories, conceptual images which describe new ways of perceiving existing spaces and auto-biographical work which places personal experience into symbolic context”. Taylor’s artwork has appeared in numerous exhibitions within Canada and internationally and he has been the recipient of various awards, including being inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2015.

Taylor was involved in the creation of Mount Allison University’s accredited BFA photography program. Taylor has also taught and been a guest artist at post-secondary institutions and organizations within both Canada and the United States during the span of his career, including, but not limited to, Rice University (Houston, TX), Texas School for the Deaf (Austin, TX), University of Texas at Austin, Western Academy of Photography (Victoria, BC), and Victoria College of Art (Victoria, BC).

John and his wife Vijaya co-founded Eclectic Gallery in Victoria, BC, which they ran from 2008 until they sold the business in 2017. Eclectic Gallery focused on contemporary art and represented over 100 individual artists. John and Vijaya’s association with artist Anthony Thorn resulted in several exhibitions of his work at Eclectic Gallery during their time operating the gallery.