The gate keeper, by taylor gallegos

72” x 96”

$35,000

Latex on Canvas

2022

Wild backstory: Displayed with torn and tattered edges with paint smear marks to commemorate the wild backstory behind this painting.

Taylor Gallegos, an artist known for his exceptional ability to interpret various styles, found himself at a crossroads during the Joshua tree music festival. Amidst the melodies and sand, he embarked on a live art performance, translating the festival's vibrant energy onto canvas. Little did he know that this particular creation would become the key to unlocking his true artistic identity.

Taylor's connection to "The Gatekeeper" ran so deep that he felt compelled to take an unconventional step. After the festival concluded, he was directed to relocate the piece to a single storage unit, and put away the relic for the summer into a dusty storage container. He took a daring decision – to safeguard his creation from piling together with previous years worth of work collecting dust in anonymity. He "rescued" aka stole the artwork, pulled it off the sturdy wood structure, ripped the canvas away and quickly drove away. A piece of artwork that had become the embodiment of his artistic identity, from a fate of obscurity. This act of defiance demonstrated his unwavering commitment to his newfound artistic truth. We stand by this commitment.

The art piece is also known as the, "Stolen Artwork"

Artist Statement: This painting has come clear to me as being a keystone piece for me that has connected my art and myself as an artist. It brings together all the various artistic explorations and puts them together as one… I was in full flow, I felt like myself, and in this painting I feel that I’ve found myself as the artist that I truly am. The development and growth of the concept was an organic process that came to be over time, individual creative steps, observation, conversation, and contemplation. This piece has many elements that connect and communicate different things to different people. We all have different forms of doors and gatekeepers in our experiences.