In Pride and Insouciance, Janet Taylor Pickett's works are a powerful assertion of self- worth and cultural confidence. Resilience and beauty reach a pinnacle in Taylor Pickett's luminous portraitures. Insouciance mingled with pride and carefree nonchalance balanced by deliberate indifference to societal expectations; the figures are filled with expectancy and resolve and embody a continuous longing for social, sexual, and spiritual freedom that is both personal and universal.

Pride and Insouciance is a visual manifesto that encourages a profound exploration of the multifaceted nature of Black experiences.

The intentional merging of the traditional and the contemporary speaks to the evolving cultural identity, inviting viewers to acknowledge the richness and complexity inherent in celebrating Blackness.

Janet Taylor Pickett (b. 1948, Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a painter and collagist, currently residing in California after having lived in New Jersey for many years. Taylor Pickett earned her BFA and MFA from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design, Ann Arbor. She continued her studies at Parsons School of Design the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City; and the Vermont Studio Center.

She was instrumental in establishing the Art Department at Essex County College in New Jersey and taught art and art history there for over thirty years. Taylor Pickett’s work can be found in collections across the United States, including the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City; Rutgers University, NJ; University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor; Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York City; Philadelphia Museum of Art; University of Texas, Austin; and Harvard University Museums, Cambridge, MA.

Jennifer Taylor Pickett is represented by Jennifer Baahng Gallery in New York.