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Spotlight: David G Taylor
14 November 2025
Welcome to another blog post from Figment Art where shed some light on our members and highlight the work they create. The next member in the spotlight is David G Taylor, a neurodivergent mixed-media artist based in Brighton.
Inspired by pop art, dadaism and punk, his projects have included designing t-shirts for the record label Not Saints, creating bespoke decoupage wall murals and portraits of personal heroes like Grace Jones, David Bowie, Divine, and Amanda Lepore.
He is a member of Figment Arts and Kemptown Arts Association, he’s exhibited in shows including Brighton’s Open Houses Festival, BEAF (Bournemouth Emerging Arts Festival), East London’s Secret Salon, and Story Maps in Newhaven.
Revell – How long have you been doing art for?
David – I’ve been making it all my life but no-one seemed to recognise any potential. At school, I almost wasn’t allowed to take exams in Art and my dad had to write a letter to persuade them. Although I passed, I didn’t make any art for years and put my efforts in writing fiction. Then, in 2012 I started dating someone that lived at Villa Santo Sospir in France, which is known as the ‘tattooed villa’. In the 1950s, artist Jean Cocteau covered the plain white walls with incredible line drawings of figures and mythical beasts. His handiwork was so inspiring that I started to make art again. Which came in handy as something to do during the pandemic. In 2020, the Artistic Director of a community arts charity saw my work and commissioned me to design a set of promotional postcards for them. I’ve been making and selling art ever since.
Revell – What work are you creating for the Story Maps project?
David – It’s all about folklore, so I took the legend of the Grey Lady apparition. She was first sighted by a Theatre Royal manager in 1960, so I set my piece in the decade earlier. I invented a missing actor, Evelyn Terrace, who might possibly be the ghost, and I imagined several backstories influenced by cinema of the 1950s – the film noir, the monster movie and sci-fi , for instance. All these plots are revealed randomly as visitors rummage through suitcases and other left-behind belongings in an abandoned dressing room. Randomly encountering letters, secret notes, posters, vintage objects, and more. I really enjoy combing storytelling with my art, and it’s fun to get people’s feedback. Some visitors seemed to believe that Evelyn Terrace had really vanished, so maybe I’ve created a new urban legend.
Revell – What was your favourite art exhibition/gallery that you went to?
David – In my former career as an editor and journalist, I’ve reported on many exhibitions, but ‘Henri Matisse: The Cut Outs’ at the Tate Modern in 2014 is one I’ll never forget. When the aging French Impressionist could no longer hold a paintbrush, he started creating semi-abstract art out of coloured paper torn or cut into shapes. The work is so colourful and imaginative; it’s some of my favourite art ever. I find it so inspiring that Matisse didn’t let anything stand in the way of his creativity, even age and disability, and it’s an example I try to follow.
David G Taylor’s printed work is currently on sale at The Rock Inn and Jules Emporium in Brighton.
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