b. 1974, Kalamazoo, MI
EDUCATION
2002 BFA Fine Arts, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 CREATED EQUAL, M Contemporary Gallery, Ferndale, MI
2022 SELF-EVIDENT, The Baber Room Gallery, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
2021 DEFENSIVE, Detroit Contemporary, Detroit, MI
2018 RACISM SWEET RACISM, Elijah Wheat Showroom, Brooklyn, NY
TROUBLEMAKER, Hatch Gallery, Hamtramck, MI
2016 NIGHT AND DAY, City Gallery, Farmington, MI
2013 CITY WOLVES, Motor City Brewery, Detroit, MI
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
DEEP DIVE, M Contemporary Art, Ferndale, MI
ATLANTA ART FAIR, Pullman Yards, Atlanta, GA
THE ONGOING EXPERIMENT: 10 YEARS OF 333 MIDLAND AND THE ANNEX GALLERY, Annex Gallery, Highland Park, MI
OUT OF THE VAULT, INTO THE LIGHT- Curated by Leslie Graves, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
BEYOND TOPOGRAPHY, Janice Charach Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI
2023
ACTUAL SIZE, Galerie Camille, Detroit, MI
SKILLED LABOR: BLACK REALISM IN DETROIT, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT, Annex Gallery, Highland Park, MI
MOVEMENT, General Motors Design Center Gallery, Warren, MI
GET TOGETHER, Reyes Finn Gallery, Detroit, MI
2022
WE EXCHANGE: AN ASSEMBLAGE OF POSSIBILITIES, Scarab Club, Detroit, MI
ART IN DETROIT: NOW, Curated by James Dozier, Heidelberg Project Gallery, Detroit, MI
2021
THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLKS: BEARING OUR TRUTH, Scarab Club, Detroit, MI
THE SALAD DAYS, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
2020
PLUS ONE, Annex Gallery, Highland Park, MI
MULTIFACETED NARRATIVES: AN EXPLORATION OF BLACK FIGURATIVE ART, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
DELL PRYOR: A COMMON THREAD, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
GILDA SNOWDEN MEMORIAL EXHIBITION, Scarab Club, Detroit, MI
SMALL SHOW, Center for Detroit Arts & Culture, Detroit, MI
INSECURITY, Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti, MI
2019
ACTUAL SIZE, Detroit Contemporary, Detroit MI
FACULTY NOW!, The Valade Family Gallery, Detroit, MI
PEOPLE STORIES, Grosse Pointe Art Center, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI
DRAWINGS, M Contemporary, Ferndale, MI
2018
THE ANTI-ART FAIR, Copeland Park, London, UK
BIG HIGHLAND PARK ART SHOW, Annex Gallery, Highland Park, MI
2017
TO THE END OF THE EARATH, Curated by Adrian Hatfield, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
NOW AND THEN: ARTISTS CONTEMPLATE THE SUMMER OF 1967, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
IMAGE/TEXT, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
BEAUTIFUL BRUSHWORK, Pittman-Puckett Gallery, Ferndale, MI
NEVER AGAIN (AGAIN), Annex Gallery, Highland Park, MI
2016
THE DARK SIDE, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI
ROBERT SCHEFMAN: BODY OF INFLUENCE, Grosse Pointe Art Center, Grosse Pointe, MI
A PORTION OF TERRITORY, Boll Family YMCA Lobby Gallery, Detroit, MI
2015
LET’S PRETEND, River’s Edge Gallery, Wyandotte, MI
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY: EXHIBITION I- Galerie Camille, Detroit, MI
EXHIBITION II- Gallery 161, Berlin, GER
2014
OIL & WATER: WORKS BY TAURUS BURNS AND MATT LEWIS, Corktown Studios, Detroit, MI
BIANNUAL ALL MEDIA EXHIBITION, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
BIG PAINTINGS, The Factory, Highland Park, MI
DETROIT INVITATIONAL, Dell Pryor Gallery, Detroit, MI
COLLECTIVE VISIONS, Ellen Kayrod Gallery, Detroit, MI
2013
SURROUNDING POINT, Brown & Juanita Ford Gallery, Taylor, MI
WORK, Detroit Mercantile Company, Detroit, MI
EXCHANGE: CHICAGO <> DETROIT - Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
2012
PAINTING INVITATIONAL, 4731 Gallery, Detroit, MI
LANGUAGE, River’s Edge Gallery, Wyandotte, MI
NIGHT SHOW, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
2011
PAINTIN’ THE D, Motor City Brewery, Detroit MI
DETROIT CLASSIC, PROPER, Start Gallery, Detroit, MI
2010
DIALOGUE: TAURUS BURNS AND ALICE SMITH, Sherry Washington Gallery, Detroit, MI
DETROIT URBAN LANDSCAPE, Gallery 194, Lapeer, MI
THE CREATORS: SELF PORTRAITS, WCCC Brown and Juanita Ford Gallery, Detroit, MI
FIGURE/GROUND, Anton Art Center, Mount Clemens, MI
2009
RE:COLLECT, Review Contemporary Gallery, Detroit, MI
RACE, Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI
POST-APOCALYPTIC MOTOR CITY, 323 East Gallery, Royal Oak, MI
2008
SERRANO PICKS DETROIT, Center Galleries, Detroit, MI
FIVE PAINTERS, JRainey Gallery, Detroit, MI
METRO DETROIT REALISM, Marygrove College of Art Gallery, Detroit, MI
URBAN EDGE, Grosse Pointe Art Center, Grosse Pointe, MI
2007
DETROIT: NEXT, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
CONTRAST, Dell Pryor Gallery, Detroit, MI
IF OTHER PLEASE EXPLAIN, Work Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
MAKING FACES, Butcher’s Inn, Detroit, MI
IDENTITY EXPRESSION, Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI
2006
THE ARTWORK OF TAURUS BURNS, Detroit Repertory Theater, Detroit, MI
FIGURE/GROUND RELATIONSHIP: TAURUS BURNS AND FRANK ENGLISH, Synergy Gallery, Berkley, MI
COLLECTIONS
Central Michigan University
Cranbrook Museum of Art
The Research and Special Collections of the University of Michigan
The Octavia Butler Estate
Numerous Private Collections
AWARDS
GILDA SNOWDEN MEMORIAL EXHIBIT- Second Place, Scarab Club, Detroit, MI, Feb 2019
JUROR
THE SPRING SALON, Detroit Contemporary, Detroit, MI 2023
HATCHBACK 16, Hatch Gallery, Hamtramck, MI 2022
MY PERSONAL JOURNEY, Grosse Pointe Art Center, Grosse Pointe, MI, 2019
DIY STREET FAIR, Ferndale MI, 2018
SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS (Painting and Drawing), Detroit, MI- 2020, 2018, 2017, 2013, 2012
DRAGON ON THE LAKE FESTIVAL, Featured Artist and Juror, Lake Orion, MI 2017
ARTS & APPLES FESTIVAL, Rochester, MI 2012
URBAN EDGE, Grosse Pointe Art Center, Grosse Pointe, MI, 2010
CURATOR
NATURE, Cass Cafe, Detroit, MI, 2022
STROKE, Grosse Pointe Art Center, Grosse Pointe, MI, 2013
DETROIT PAINTERS, Beyond Words Art Gallery, Detroit, MI, 2013
THE DETROIT FRONTIER, Cass Cafe, Detroit, MI, 2009
CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATION
“The Riddle of the Hollow Reed” by Charlotte J. Harman, Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2012
“Kyle Jeffries, Pilgrim” by Gail Radley, Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2010
STREET PAINTING
DRAGON ON THE LAKE FESTIVAL, Lake Orion, MI 2017
ANN ARBOR STREET FAIR, Ann Arbor, MI, 2013, 2012
DETROIT FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS, Detroit, MI, 2008, 2007
PUBLIC ART
TIGER TOWN, Children’s Charity Fundraiser, Metro Detroit, 2007
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
ART ON THE MOVE, Detroit, MI 2000
“Taurus Burns embraces his zebra stripes in ‘Created Equal’”, Detroit Metro Times, Randiah Camille Green, February 24, 2023
”The Influence of Race, Politics & History”, College for Creative Studies Office of Admissions Alumni Profile, April 2022
”Nature at Cass Cafe”, Real Art Detroit, Kim Fay, March 3 2022
“The BLAC List: Best of Detroit”, BLAC (Black Life, Arts & Culture), November-December 2021
“Taurus Burns at Detroit Contemporary”, Real Art Detroit, Kim Fay, September 16 2021
“We Are One”, The 2021 Metro Times Fiction Issue, May 26, 2021
Lindsay Keener, “Multifaceted Narratives: An Exploration of Black Figurative Art”, The Michigan Chronicle, September 1, 2020
K.A. Letts, “Claiming Privilege: Four African-American figurative artists from Detroit claim their place in history”, New Art Examiner, March/April 2020
“Detroit Sequential Vol. 2”, Detroit Novelty Press, September 2019
Michael Hodges, “Troublemaker Stars at Hatch Art”, Detroit News, May 21, 2018
Joni Hubred-Gold, “City Gallery Hosts New Exhibit” Farmingtonvoice.com, March 9, 2016
K. Michelle Moran, "Brush with Greatness", Grosse Pointe Times, May 23, 2013
E. Ashley Rooney, 100 Artists of the Midwest, Schiffer Books, 2012
"Pontiac Marks 150th Anniversary with Art", Detroit News, Mar 2012
Brianna Valleskey, “Community Arts: Taurus Burns”, April 21, 2010
“Best Local Artist”, Real Detroit Weekly, March 2010
Suzanne Bilek, “Detroit on Canvas”, Hour Detroit Magazine, January 2010
Michael Hodges, “City Portraits”, The Detroit News, September 23, 2009
"Gritty views of Detroit in Paint Creek's Taurus Burns show", Detroit News, March 19 2009
Dan Graschuck, “Best Local Artists To Collect”, Hour Detroit Magazine, June 2007
Keri Guten Cohen, “The Art Stars of Tomorrow”, Detroit Free Press, March 2, 2007
"Painted Tigers Aid Charity" The Oakland Press, March 28, 2007
Desiree Cooper, “Artists Find Muses Inside Themselves”, Detroit Free Press, November 19, 2002