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Wes Taylor

He // Him // His

New Media Artist

Detroit, Michigan

A black and white portrait of a black man with long hair and a beard standing on a rocky surface. A satchel is slung across his chest and his hands are in his pocket. While his body faces the left, his head is turned directly towards the camera, with greenery, a lake, and a distant town fill the space behind him.

Photo by Narshid Nasrabadi.

Wes Taylor is a printmaker, designer, musician, place-maker, space-keeper, educator, and curator. Taylor roots his practice in performance and social justice. His work is multi-disciplinary as well as anti-disciplinary, combining, oscillating between, and blurring disciplines. His individual practice is inextricably linked to the constellation of collectives and networks he has formed over twenty years. Those collectives include: Complex Movements, Talking Dolls Detroit, Emergence Media, Design Justice Network, Athletic Mic League, and All Faux Everythings. His work is inspired by elder knowledge, complex science, '90s underground Hip Hop, funk, '80s disco, punk aesthetics, and science fiction. He is a recent fellow of the OPI (Of Public Interest) Lab at the Kungl. Konsthögskolan in Stockholm, Sweden and an associate professor at Wayne State University.

This artist page was last updated on: 04.14.2026

Media
A screen print of The Jones Girls, Get as Much Love as You Can, The Dramatics: The Devil is Dope, Detroit Emeralds: I'm in Love with You, and J Dilla: Ruff Draft on four clay slabs. The slab featuring The Jones Girls is split in two.

Ghost Store Album Covers by Wes Taylor, 2025. Clay, iron oxide, screen print, 14 × 14 inches. Part of a series of ceramic reproductions of albums from groups that originated from the Gardens neighborhood in Detroit. Pictured here: The Dramatics, The Devil is Dope, 1973.

Photo by Kelly Agius.

The screenprint centers a man wearing dark clothing and a beanie. A block of red surrounds this central figure. The outer edges feature a caramel color with hints of blue and black organic shapes throughout. The surface appears rough.

Sterling (Intellectual Squatters Crew) by Wes Taylor, 2025. Screen print, ball grain aluminum, carborundum, oil, acrylic, 18 × 25 inches.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Wes Taylor, in a bright blue jacket, and Linda Hang, wearing a bright red jacket, face away from the viewer and crouch in the Black Portal Building in Detroit. Hang holds a microphone and Taylor adjusts sampling equipment.

Photo documentation of Black Portal Sound Graffiti by Wes Taylor, 2024. Sound performance with Linda Hang and Stefan Perdersen. Exploration of the building through resonant tones and sound sweeps, interspersing kick drum samples from legendary house and techno songs produced by Detroit artists. Hang recited original poems while altering the sound of their voice through sampling equipment. Black Portal Building, Detroit, MI.

Photo by Stefan Perdersen.