"Joy Today/Grief Tomorrow" Mosaic by artist John Taylor-Lehman. Photo courtesy of John Taylor-Lehman.
Beginning Jan. 9, the work of Zanesville artist and Professor John Taylor-Lehman will be on display at The Ohio State University Faculty Club.
This solo exhibition, titled CAPtivate, features two- and three-dimensional mosaic folk art compositions created from recycled beer bottle caps and other recycled objects.
“The majority of my artwork is created by repurposing materials that would otherwise find their way to a landfill or, hopefully, a recycling center,” says Taylor-Lehman. “Beer caps, found objects, scrap wood and metal are among the resources that have found their way into my work.”
It’s hard to imagine pieces of Taylor-Lehman’s art in the garbage, as his colorful mosaics depict cultural objects like sugar skulls, koi and one even depicting an American flag spangled with dollar signs rather than stars.
Taylor-Lehman is completely self-taught, and he began to focus mainly on beer cap art in 2014. After realizing the taxing nature of crushing beer caps to prepare for the canvas, he enlisted the help of the Columbus Machine Company and a mechanical aerospace engineering research scientist at OSU. The trio solved the problem by modifying a log splitter, and it allowed Taylor-Lehman to create at a much faster pace and expand his art.
Outside of his career in art, Taylor-Lehman is a retired public high school teacher and still teaches biology as an adjunct professor at Zane State College. Taylor-Lehman’s work has been exhibited at The Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, The Ohio Art League’s Riffe Gallery and the Columbus Cultural Arts Center, among others.
CAPtivate will be on view through March 10 at the OSU Faculty Club Monday through Friday from 8 am. – 5 p.m. An opening reception, free and open to the public, will be held Jan. 13 from 6-8 p.m. Admission to the exhibition is free. For more information, click here.
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
