Artwork – Fine Art & Installation

My 2 Awards from American Illustration 37

Gary Taxali — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 22:08:16 +0000

I am thrilled to announce that 2 of my recent works have been selected to appear in this year’s American Illustration Annual. I consider myself very fortunate to be included in this gorgeous coffee table book once again. Being accepted into this publication always bestows upon me a great sense of accomplishment, and I would like to thank American Illustration and their jury for selecting my 2 pieces this year out of over 8,000 submissions.

This fantastic book will be published in November 2018. These are my winning entries:

“The Slide” Bronze, commissioned for The National Pastime Museum

“NO” Personal work, mixed media on paper

My 3 Awards from American Illustration

Gary Taxali — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 19:42:41 +0000

I am pleased to have just learned that 3 of my recent works have been selected into the American Illustration Annual. I have been very lucky to have been included in their beautifully printed coffee table award book on a yearly basis. The feeling of accomplishing work that I am proud of is always highlighted by my notice of acceptance, so thank you American Illustration and the jury for selecting my 3 pieces. Only 339 pieces out of 10,003 entries were selected. (That may be a record number of entries!)

This beautiful coffee table book will be published in November 2016. Here are my winning pieces:

“Coq Au Vin”, commission for Chef Thomas Keller, mixed media

“The Anointment”, personal work, oil on baltic birch

“Je t’aime Paris”, personal work created for The Paris Attacks

Gary Taxali: The Art of Whimsy

Gary Taxali — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 18:01:52 +0000

This short film which previewed at the Canadian Art Reel World Film Festival in March, 2015 features artist, Gary Taxali who talks about his process and art. The film was produced by Projector Films and directed by Kyriakos Alexopoulos and Ryan Walker.

Communication Arts Illustration Annual

Gary Taxali — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 19:06:56 +0000

I just received the good news today that 2 of my pieces were accepted into the Communication Arts Illustration Annual! This juried competition receives the most entries out of any professional illustration competition, so to get recognized is quite the honour. This year, they received just under 4000 entries from all over the world, and only 167 were accepted.

The two works that the jury awarded of my work were a poster/print that I did for OCAD University‘s 100th GradEx show, and an editorial illustration I created for Mother Jones magazine about the harmful effects on the environment by air conditioners. The awards issue comes out in July 2016.

Thank you Communication Arts, and thank you esteemed jury!

If you would like to purchase a limited edition silk screen print of the poster, please click here.

Art for Chef Keller Wins Society of Illustrators Award

Gary Taxali — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 18:49:03 +0000

A short while ago, I was commissioned to create artwork for the amazing Chef Thomas Keller, who runs the famous 3 Michelin star restaurant The French Laundry in the Napa Valley. Anthony Bourdain called his restaurant, “the best restaurant in the world…period.” The artwork was created for Chef Keller’s publication, Finesse for an upcoming issue. He was so happy with the art, he purchased the original.

If that wasn’t an honour enough, I recently found out the art won an award at the Society of Illustrators. On Feb 3rd, the award reception will be taking place at the Society in NYC, so if you’re in NYC you may attend the reception/opening of the awards exhibit.

Wine Label Art

Gary Taxali — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 13:25:24 +0000

I am pleased to announce the release of a brand new wine on the market that features my artwork on its label. This ultra premium wine is from Australia and is entitled “Friends of Friends”. It was a project that I had immense fun working on. I am very pleased with the final product and cannot wait to try the wine! Cheers!

Award from The Society of Illustrators

Gary Taxali — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 23:10:54 +0000

Last year, I created a poster for Artscape (a not-for-profit urban development organization in Toronto that provides spaces for artists) for their annual fundraiser. I am pleased to announce this poster has won a Society Of Illustrators award! The opening reception is this Friday, January 8th in NYC.

This artwork is now available as a print, which can be purchased HERE.

Aimee Mann and Ted Leo’s Christmas Poster

Gary Taxali — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 23:13:02 +0000

My Poster for Aimee Mann and Ted Leo’s Christmas Show 2015

I am very pleased to have been asked by Aimee Mann and Ted Leo to do the poster for their annual Christmas Show once again.

Aimee’s Christmas Show is a holiday tradition, featuring a mixture of Christmas classics, original music, comedy sketches, and over the years many terrific guests have made appearances. Previous guests include Fred Armisen, John C. Reilly, Tim Heidecker, and Rachael Yamagata. This year, Aimee and Ted will be joined by Jonathan Coulton, Liz Phair, John Roderick, and many other special guests.

The poster is available as an exclusive edition 6 colour screenprint. It is 18″ x 24″, and is hand-signed by Aimee Mann, Ted Leo and myself, and numbered out of 200. If you cannot make it to the show, you may purchase the print from my online store HERE.

I did the poster for last year’s show as well, which you can see below. Last year’s print is also available in my online store, HERE.

My poster for Aimee Mann and Ted Leo’s Christmas Show from 2014.

Recently, Aimee and Ted came to town, and we had a great time catching up. Aimee joined me in seeing my retrospective exhibition from this past summer, featuring the artwork I did for her Grammy nominated album package “@#%&*! Smilers” in 2008.

Aimee and I at my retrospective exhibition earlier this summer.

You can see the dates for the Christmas Show and purchase tickets on Aimee Mann’s website.

The Both (Aimee Mann and Ted Leo) have recorded a new Christmas song “You’re a Gift” which you can listen to now on Youtube, featuring both my poster images. This will be available on iTunes on Dec 18th.

Limited Edition Print Release: Primus and the Chocolate Factory

Gary Taxali — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 13:33:59 +0000

I was commissioned by the rock band PRIMUS to create 2 rock show posters for both their shows this past weekend in Toronto. Both are 18×24″, 5 colour silkscreen prints on 100% cotton rag paper, signed and numbered by me.

Below is the poster for the first night, followed by the poster for the second night, showing the demise of Augustus Gloop.

Both posters are available for purchase in my online store HERE.

Primus is a pretty cool band with a very eclectic following. The fans are die hard.

“Wild Forever”. A Tribute to Maurice Sendak

Gary Taxali — Fri, 08 May 2015 19:21:43 +0000

3 years ago today, Aviva Michaelov at the NY Times messaged me about a quick commission. She asked me if I would create a piece of tribute art and write a small obit for Maurice Sendak, who had just died that day. Still in a daze from learning that terrible news, I agreed. I don’t even remember thinking, I just drew a single sketch in 2 minutes of one of my characters in a Max costume, and sent it to her. It was approved and in the end, met with a lot of praise. His estate invited me to the funeral service but I was unable to get to NYC due to other travel commitments. This tribute picture has a lot of reach and many people still message me all the time wanting a print, and I know of at least 15 tattoos of this art out there. I called the art, “Wild Forever” because it seemed fitting and judging by the tremendous reaction, I think many people feel the same way. RIP Mr. Sendak.