Geoff Tuck reviews an exhibition of paintings by Henry Taylor at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, on view through March 30, 2013.

Tuck writes: "Henry Taylor reveals much about human nature in [The 'We' Hours, 2012], as he does in other paintings in the show. Taylor challenges us to move beyond a reliance on recognizable types in contemporary representation, instead inviting us to trust our own judgment and to employ empathy. Like many artists who paint from life, Taylor drops faces and bodies he sees on the streets and among his friends into painted characters without regard to context…Taylor is always drawing and sketching people, and this shows in the work. Taylor is able to render a person exactly: with the slightest of means, using rough and gestural brush strokes, this artist imbues his figures and faces with ambiguity that is truly human."