Bernie Taupin: Flags of Our Founders

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BERNIE TAUPIN

BERNIE TAUPIN

Acrylic, corrugated cardboard, wax and twine on canvas

FLAGS OF OUR FOUNDERS a t Wa t e r h o u s e & D o d d

Counterclockwise from top left: Red from Red White Blue 2015 Acrylic, corrugated cardboard, wax and twine on canvas 36 x 36 inches White from Red White Blue 2015 Acrylic, corrugated cardboard, wax and twine on canvas 36 x 36 inches And Blue from Red White Blue 2015 Acrylic, bubble wrap, wax and twin on canvas 36 x 36 inches

Front Cover: Sleeping Beauty 2014 Fabric and twine on canvas 36 x 60 inches Back Cover: Bound for Glory 2014 Acrylic, burlap and cheesecloth on wood panel 30 x 60 inches Right: The Barricade 2014 Wood stain, fabric, wood, ash, wax and twine on wood panel 20 x 48 inches

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Bernie Taupin is a British-born American artist who works primarily in an abstract expressionist style, synthesizing the signature styles and ideologies of Hans Hofmann, Amsel Kiefer, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still. By restricting himself to the vocabulary of abstraction he remains open to explore the more visceral relationships between color and texture. Using house paint, oil paint, wood stains, and spray paint, Taupin mobilizes color and form to convey emotions inspired by urban environments and Americana.

BERNIE TAUPIN

Taupin began a serious career as a visual artist when he settled in California in 1990. Armed with an acute painterly awareness inspired by his Bohemian mother and an appreciation of modernist painters of the 1960s and 1970s, Taupin honed his aesthetic approach during multiple visits to New York museums. Today, Taupin works out of his studio in a converted racquetball court on his property, a space that Taupin says is big enough for him to work freely with any and all materials.

Letters and words act as elements of both provocation and design in Taupin’s work. While he may be best known for his legendary songwriting career with Elton John, very little tangible overlap exists between his work as a wordsmith and his approach to painting. Taupin explains that his creative process is “simply the visual extension of what I have spent my life creating through words,” a natural extension of his life’s work.

Scrawl 2014 Acrylic, newspaper and stencil casings on canvas 48 x 60 inches

A deep knowledge of American Post-War painting is apparent in Taupin’s art, as evidenced by his affection for Hofmann and Kiefer, along with knowledge of current aesthetics. His use of bright colors in oblong shapes connotes affection, while dark colors with fragmented edges are associated with pain. Taupin manipulates a wide range of media into abstract works that only hint at narrative and yet are loaded with dynamism. While creating this new body of work virtually any material was subject to serve in his creative arsenal.

Taupin working in his studio.

BERNIE TAUPIN

Sleeping Beauty 2014 Fabric and twine on canvas 36 x 60 inches

BERNIE TAUPIN

Civil War Trilogy 1 The Union Acrylic 2014 Acrylic on canvas 36 x 48 inches

Civil War Trilogy 2 Battle Dress 2014 Acrylic, corrugated cardboard and fabric on canvas 36 x 30 inches

Civil War Trilogy 3 The Coming of the Lord Acrylic and fabric on canvas 48 x 36 inches

2014

BERNIE TAUPIN

Ragged Glory II 2014 Acrylic, chicken wire, gauze and string on canvas 30 x 30 inches

No Left Turn at Babylon 2014 Wood stain, fabric and twine on canvas 60 x 36 inches