Taurus Burns

As obvious as this title may be, we feel that there are subtleties that have been sneaking into the comfort of a racially hyper-polarized United States that can no longer be swept aside or whispered about. The emboldened nature of discriminatory language that has been proliferating since our current president's lack of respect for immigrants, world leaders and citizens has berated so-called white privilege. These declarations wake individuals that have been in the dark about a divisive discrimination that has plagued our country since a dysfunctional slave state has been so-called emancipated. Hearing the confusion as to “How this can happen after Obama” or “I had no idea racism still was so ingrained” can feel insulting to men and women that live everyday with knowledge that they are treated differently due to the color of their skin. Only now, the divisive prejudices are more obvious. Folks have a proud vocal resurgence, as these ‘Alt-Right’, ‘White Supremacists’ ‘American Freedom Party’ and ‘Neo-Confederates’ are collectively activating their base and are championed by a president who excites his supporters by deriding minorities.

As the USA’s systemic marginalization of people of color becomes more reticently discussed amongst all classes of peoples through the Black Lives Matter movement, we exonerate the willingness to acknowledge the different experiences that have plagued generations of families that built our nation. As Taurus remarks by entitling the show "Racism Sweet Racism": "The ideal home is one of comfort, safety and support, and for many this is the heart of the American dream. For some it's a given; everyone else has to fight for it. Everyday we get one step closer to that dream... until another person of color is killed in our community and we're reminded that racism really is as American as apple pie. In our dysfunctional society, many take comfort in the denial of racism. My work is about that denial, and the pain that this country pushes down, strings up, locks away and buries.” Comfort around racism’s social construct and presence is so ingrained; perhaps we cannot see outside of it.

Taurus Burns is compelled to illustratively paint the symbols associated with such a deep wound, referencing obvious signs for even progressive folks that continue to live in denial. Burns continues, “Our news feeds overflow with videos of police taking the lives of black men, black women and trans lives and guilty officers who get off with a public slap on the wrist, but private pat on the back. The value of black lives is, once again, publically under attack, yet when the African-American community protests it is ridiculed, shouted down, ignored, and manipulated to feed the “disrespectful thug” narrative that validates the endless well of hatred and oppression.”

The works in this show attempt to look at these issues both objectively and subjectively. With homages to women’s lives that have been lost through portraiture like: "Aiyana Jones", "Charleena Lyles", "Rekia Boyd", "Heather Heyer" "Sandra Bland" & "Mya Hall". Also, coupled with works epitomizing segregation and the alt-rights fight to keep black and whites apart like the “The Miscegenation Police” to a large scale work reinterpreting the LA riots after Rodney “King”, Burns proves that through representational painting of contemporaneous symbols, he reflects on this innate bigotry and bias against the bodies of black Americans.

Taurus Burns has called Detroit home since 1998, receiving a BFA in Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies in 2002. Since, Taurus has painted murals, created public art and street paintings, been on the exhibition committee of the Detroit Artists Market, juried and curated local exhibits, and painted over 300 Detroit urban landscapes. He was once listed as "Best Local Artist" in Real Detroit Weekly and one of the "Best Local Artists to Collect" in Hour Detroit Magazine. In 2017 he began to specifically address race, gun violence and the wealth gap in his artwork. He’s been reviewed in the Detroit News, and has had mentions in Hyperallergic. This is his first solo exhibition at Elijah Wheat Showroom’s Brooklyn space as well as his first time exhibiting in New York City. He recently had a solo booth with EWS at the Anti Art Fair in London. Taurus lives in Oak Park, MI. He is a full-time automotive clay sculptor and has been training in the Japanese martial art of Aikido since 2011.