Honor Titus and Henry Taylor Get Down to the Real Nitty-Gritty

One art form is not enough for the musician-turned-painter Honor Titus. Best known as the frontman of the Brooklyn punk-rock band Cerebral Ballzy, Titus would have been well within his right to remain swimming in the deep end of the New York music scene (Titus’s father, Andre “Dres” Titus, was a member of the hip-hop duo Black Sheep). But over the past decade, Titus has proved himself an aesthetic journeyman, acting in films, modeling, and writing poetry. But it is visual art where he has proven himself a cogent and moving practitioner. Having worked under artists @jsuch as Raymond Pettibon (who also did Cerebral Ballzy’s self-titled 2011 album cover), Dan Colen, and Ryan McGinley, Titus has struck out on his own with a series of romantic, figurative paintings that conjure nostalgic, art-historical vignettes (the leisure of lawns, car culture, dances), but casts them through a gripping surrealistic lens that feels startlingly fresh.  When Titus moved to Los Angeles in 2016, he became friends with Henry Taylor, a living legend of figurative painting. Taylor has proved something of a mentor, guide, and reliable confidante to the budding painter, especially during the past year of lockdowns. As Titus prepares for his first solo show in New York at the end of January at Timothy Taylor Gallery, he and Taylor got together at Taylor’s studio—and talked on the phone in separate rooms—to discuss inspiration, finding your own voice, and why it’s never too late to start loving what you do.