Thursday, August 14, 2008

Guggenheim Fellow David Taylor Featured in Artist Dialogue at Preston Contemporary Art Center Friday, Sept. 5

Photographer David Taylor, winner of a 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship, will be featured in the next of a series of Artists Dialogues hosted at the Preston Contemporary Art Center on Friday, Sept 5 at 7 pm. The event is free of charge. The Center’s Artists Dialogues series takes the format of a conversation, rather than a lecture. Artist and audience members will have the opportunity to react and interact with comments and questions about the artist’s works.

Taylor, assistant professor of art at New Mexico State University, will be recognized for his current body of work that focuses on his experiences on both sides of the US-Mexican border. His working relationship with Border Patrol offices from Texas to Arizona has led to photographs of the daily routine of officers and their interactions with the people attempting to cross the border.

Taylor earned a MFA in Visual design/Photography from the University of Oregon in 1994. His BFA is from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Taylor has taught at NMSU since 2003. His photographic career includes numerous awards, exhibition and publications, and his photographs are found in both private and public collections. His recent fellowship is one of only 200 awarded in 2008 from among 2,600 US and Canadian applicants. Taylor received a $45,000 grant from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for three projects: photographing all 275 mile-markers along the US -Mexican border; riding with Border Patrol officers and chronicling their work; and photographing the areas around Asarco, Mount Cristo Rey, the Juarez landfill, Sunland Park Racetrack and western El Paso .

The Preston Contemporary Art Center is located off I-10 Exit 140, 1755 Avenida de Mercado (at the end of Calle de Mercado), Mesilla, NM. For information, call 575-523-8713 or visit the website www.prestoncontemporaryart.com.