Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case I, Shelf 150, Box A(iii)

Illustration

2004 (made), 13 March 2004 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Taxali's distinctive cartoon-like illustrations have appeared in national magazines, print and television advertisements, and on packaging from CD covers to wine labels. He experiments with different textures and media, sometimes using rubber stamps made from his drawings. Old book covers and paper reappear as canvases, with evidence of their former use deliberately exposed. He told online magazine Pixelsurgeon, 'I began cutting apart and collaging old tearsheets of mine to create new pictures. There was a spontaneous, raw and tactile reaction I had ... The rawer look of the new pictures was very exciting to me.'


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Ink on paper
Brief description
Illustration, print from rubber stamps, to 'Order of merit' by Alain de Botton, article published in the Telegraph Magazine (London); Canada; 2004.
Physical description
Printed illustration using rubber stamps made by the artist on a page from a found book. A cartoon man, in black outline wearing a grey suit and hat and a black moustache sits on a rung of a ladder, which is red and runs diagonally across the page from top right to bottom left. The man rests his head against his hand, which is supported by his right knee.

Black printed lines run irregularly vertically down the page. In the background are areas of printed blue dots. Also on the page is writing in pencil, running at right angles to the image, and doodlings in biro, including a simple outline cat and flower. All of these may have been already present on the page before the artist produced his image?
Dimensions
  • Height: 120mm
  • Width: 130mm
Marks and inscriptions
  • doodle of cat and flower (in biro to left of main image)
  • [manuscript note illegible except for '437'] (manuscript note in pencil, running vertical in relation to the image)
  • 'Taxali' (Artist signature printed in ink lower right.)
Gallery label
Second Prize (Editorial Illustration) Gary Taxali Illustrations to five articles by Alain de Botton Telegraph Magazine Weekly from 28 February to 27 March 2004 inclusive Gary Taxali was born in Chandigarh, India, and grew up in Toronto, Canada. He studied at Ontario College of Art. He is a founding member of the Illustrators' Partnership of America and co-founder of Picture Mechanics. Besides working for a wide range of commercial clients and newspapers, he exhibits his personal work and also teaches. Taxali's distinctive cartoon-like illustrations have appeared in national magazines, print and television advertisements, and on packaging from CD covers to wine labels. Taxali has won over 100 awards, including the Society of Illustrators 43, the National Magazine Awards (2002) and the Advertising and Design Club of Canada Awards (2002). He experiments with different textures and media, sometimes using rubber stamps made from his drawings. Old book covers and paper reappear as canvases, with evidence of their former use deliberately exposed. He told Pixelsurgeon, 'I began cutting apart and collaging old tearsheets of mine to create new pictures. There was a spontaneous, raw and tactile reaction I had ... The rawer look of the new pictures was very exciting to me.'(02/12/2004-15/05/2005)
Credit line
Given by the artist
Object history
Donated by the artist in 2005.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Taxali's distinctive cartoon-like illustrations have appeared in national magazines, print and television advertisements, and on packaging from CD covers to wine labels. He experiments with different textures and media, sometimes using rubber stamps made from his drawings. Old book covers and paper reappear as canvases, with evidence of their former use deliberately exposed. He told online magazine Pixelsurgeon, 'I began cutting apart and collaging old tearsheets of mine to create new pictures. There was a spontaneous, raw and tactile reaction I had ... The rawer look of the new pictures was very exciting to me.'
Bibliographic reference
Botton, Alain de. 'Order of merit' in Telgraph Magazine, 13 March 2004, p. 23.
Collection
Accession number
E.557-2005

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJuly 4, 2006
Record URL
Download as: JSON