Steed Taylor

I look at roads like they’re the life blood, like the blood vessels, that stretch through the city.
Ed Rucha, Art in America, October 2011

"The road tattoos of Steed Taylor are evanescent commemorative communal and interactive installations distinguished by history and ritual. Personalized markings by individuals bound through specific commonalities, the results are ultimately works heavily invested with emotion, and made more so by being sited as public art works."
Koan Jeff Baysa, Chinese Biennial 2008 Beijing curator

"The artist's design for Invasive is based on 18th-century European floral fabric patterns. Today these popular motifs are used as tattoos, especially among young women. A subtle but witty commentary on a pervasive problem in the North Carolina landscape - the proliferation of invasive species of plants and the subsequent loss of indigenous plants - the swirling painted patterns of Invasive physically invade the paved trail, creeping in from the edges and flowing across the path. As it winds its way through the Park, the painted patterns appears and disappears, becoming dense, then spare. No matter how visitors traverse the Park trails, whether by foot, bicycle or wheelchair, Taylor's road tattoos are sure to draw their attention and invite reflection on the invasive power of nature and humankind, often at odds with one another, sometimes in sync. "
Linda Johnson Dougherty, Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art

“Steed Taylor literally takes his art to the streets; he tattoos asphalt surfaces in the Polynesian manner as memorial tags for his tribe, creating heavenly highways for Aids victims….My vision needed only Steed Taylor to tattoo the streets, Bansky to do the signage and Andrew Schoultz to paint houses on all the houses.”
Dave Hickey “The New Modern Art” Playboy Magazine 2010

“Every time I’ll see this, it will make me sick to my stomach!”
disgruntled neighbor commenting on Patriot road tattoo