Madai Taylor was born in July of 1955 in Lake Village, Arkansas. He was educated at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, IA where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art. Later he studied painting and drawing at the Chicago Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois.

Madai’s work has evolved through time, evolving into complexities and getting bolder like a fine Bordeaux.

Taylor’s art today explores the fundamental themes of our humanity – diving into our origins. Our identity. Our location. Our purpose. There’s a roadmap to viewing each piece that’s initiated by reading the title. The mere act of viewing his work will transport you, and you may explore the roots of who you are and where you are. Those in touch with their ethereal journey may even connect with or discover their deeper life purpose.

How to view his work
Madai’s work is as intriguing in its technical composition as it is in its multiplicity of meanings. His titles reveal his bent toward the spiritual and the meditative. Always preoccupied with the ring of words, titles play a major part in his work. Whether paradoxical, poetic, reverent, joyful, playful, or melancholic, his titles set up the perspectives from which he wants the works to be seen.

Madai’s Creative Process
The process of creating of this spiritual meditative body of work starts with a gritty foundation, namely soil. Warm black, brown, and red oxide hues from silt and clay from North and South America are mixed with adhesives and layered upon canvas or wood. Material buried under other material. The foundation is then cleared, covered, or highlighted with paint and other materials. It’s a metaphor for the human experience on earth. The mystical origins of who we are from where and how we were born, diving into deeper themes.

Place of Birth: Lake Village AR.
Current Resident: Fort Dodge, IA and White, Ville TN

Education
1989 BA in Fine Art form Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA,
1985 AA Degree Iowa Central Community, Fort Dodge, IA
1980 Studied Painting and Drawing at Chicago Academy of Art, Chicago, IL

Resume

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 Arts & Arkansas Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff AR.
2018 Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA
2018 Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA
2018 Blanden Museum of Art, Fort Dodge IA
2016 Simpson College, Farnham Gallery Indianola, IA
2016 Clear Lake Art Center, Clear Lake, IA
2016 Central College, Naperville, IL
2015 Illinois Central College, East Peoria, IL
2015 University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA
2015 First American Bank Fort Dodge, IA
2014 Moberg Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2013 Moberg Gallery Des Moines, IA
2011 Ankeny Art Center, Ankeny, IA
2010 Blanden Memorial Museum of Art, Fort Dodge, IA
2007 Lakes Art Center, Okoboji, IA
2007 Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA
2007 Northern Area Community College, Mason City, IA
2007 Iowa State University, Ames, IA
2003 Plymouth Congregational Church, Des Moines, IA
2001 Hawkeye Community College, Waterloo, IA
1999 University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR
1999 Mary Heartman Gallery, Waterloo, IA
1999 Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA
1999 Summit Street Gallery, Iowa City, IA
1999 JFK Gallery, Pella, IA
1999 Lakes Art Center, Okoboji, IA
1998 Graceland College, Lamoni, IA
1998 United Methodist Church, Humboldt, IA
1998 Percival Galleries, Des Moines, IA
1995 Luther College, Decorah, IA
1995 Purdue University Gallery, West Lafayette, ID
1994 Blanden Memorial Museum of Art, Fort Dodge, IA
1993 Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
1993 Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA
1990 Flat Earth Gallery, Ames IA
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2023 Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA
2023 Anderson, Drake University Des Moines, IA
2020 Figge Art Museum Daven Port, IA
2016 Agora Gallery New York, NY
2015 Black Earth Gallery, Cedar Rapid, Gallery
2013 CSPS Legion Arts, Cedar Rapid, IA
2011 Moberg Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2002 Mac Nider Art Museum, Mason City, IA
2001 Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2001 Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA
1998 Bender Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
1997 CSPS, Legion Cedar Rapids, IA
1996 Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
1993 Iowa State University, Ames, IA
1994 Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA
1993 Madai’s Studio, Fort Dodge, IA
1992 Blanden Memorial Museum of Art, Fort Dodge, IA
1992 Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL

Curatorial Experience
1998 Intentional Manifestation of a Vision, Michelle’s Gallery, Fort Dodge, IA
1995 Visions of Color 1995 Exhibition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
1993 Paper and Iron, Madai's Studio, Fort Dodge, IA
1992 Visions of Color 1992 Exhibition, Blanden Art Museum, Fort Dodge, IA

Board & Membership
Tanne Federation Award on June 2021- Present
Iowa Central Community College Art and photography Board 2010-2018
Bladen Memorial Art Museum, Board President from 1998-2001

Selected Public & Private Collections
Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, IA
The David C. Driskell Center, College Park, MD
Art and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR
Robert Mellett, Collector of African American Art, Washington, DC
Marsh Ins. Collections, Des Moines, IA
OSMO Sports Medicine & Orthopedics, Myrtle Beach, SC
Hal Chase, COB of Farmer Merchants Bank, Winterset, IA
Ken Amano, Governor of Yamanashi Japan
Hawkeye Community College, Waterloo, IA
Waterloo Center for the Arts, Waterloo, IA
Lakes Art Center, Okoboji, IA
Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, IA
Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA
Dennis Flin, Chicago Board of Trade Building, Chicago, IL
Dennis Young, Wells Fargo Finance, Des Moines, IA
Mid-American Publishing Corporation, Des Moines, IA
Blake Parker Attorney at Law, Clinton, IA
Margret Skove, Collector & Director of Bland Museum of Art, Fort Dodge, IA
Wells Fargo Bank, Fort Dodge, IA
Kevin and Karen Cole, Artist/Educator, Atlanta, GA
Dr. Ken Adams, Trinity Regional Hospital, Fort Dodge, IA
Dr. Michael Lee, Trinity Regional Hospital Fort Dodge, IA
Tito Trevino, Attorney at Law, Fort Dodge, IA
Blake Parker, Attorney at Law Urbandale IA
Doan Family Foundation Collection, Fort Dodge, IA
Brit Baker, Des Moines, IA
Merchant Bonding, Des Moines, IA
Terry and Sheryl Lutz, Des Moines, IA
Peggy and Larry Fisher, Arizona
Marvel Dunaway, Des Moines, IA
Beverly Chapman, Des Moines, IA
Raven Industries, South Dakota

Other private collections
An Elegy to America in Black and White by Madai Taylor, Fort dodge IA 2018
The French Perspective, Agora Gallery New York, NY July 2016
A Measure of Grace Catalog, Blanden Memorial Museum of Art, Fort Dodge, IA 2009
Engaging the Interior, September 1996, Blanden Art Museum, Fort Dodge, IA
76 Years of Collecting, Blanden Memorial Art Museum, 2009 Fort Dodge, IA
Mono Solo Catalog, Fort Dodge, 2007, Fort Dodge, IA

Selected Bibliography
Fort Dodge Messenger News July 13, 2018, Fort Dodge, IA
The Iowan Magazine, September October Issue 2013, Des Moines IA
Outside In, African-American History in Iowa 1838-2000
Art & Entertainment, September 20, 1998, Atlanta, GA
Fort Dodge Messenger, September 1, 1998, Fort Dodge, IA
Fort Dodge Messenger, July 23, 1998, June 7, 1994 and October 1990, Fort Dodge,
Des Moines Register, March 10, 1996, Des Moines, IA
Iowa Artist ’96, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
Iowa Vision of Color, 1995, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Iowa State Bystander, Anniversary Edition 1994, Des Moines IA
Twist and Shout, March, 1994, Fort Dodge, IA
Tractor Quarterly, spring 1994, Cedar Rapids, IA
Des Moines Register, February 21, 1993, Des Moines, IA
Vision of Color Catalog, 1992, Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, IA
Waterloo Courier, January 30, 1992, and August 28, 1992, Waterloo IA