Local artist Philip Taylor opens free Poway exhibit Oct. 27

Philip Taylor will bring a new painting exhibition to the Poway Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA) on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with free admission through Friday, Dec. 18.

The show, titled "Constructive Interference: Bringing Reality into Focus," explores perspective, scale and the role of the observer, according to the PCPA's exhibit listing. It marks Taylor's second exhibit at the venue. His first, "Hiding In Plain Sight," ran at the PCPA from January through February 2024.

Taylor was born in Lima, Ohio, and studied art at Penn State University before finishing his undergraduate degree at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. After relocating to San Diego in the early 1980s, he spent years working in graphic design and advertising before returning to painting.

On his website, Taylor describes his work as driven by a single question about the true nature of reality. His paintings split into two tracks. One captures the feeling of being outdoors under tree canopies with light filtering through branches, rendered in a loose impressionistic style. The other translates concepts from theoretical physics and cosmology onto canvas.

"What may appear to be abstract paintings are actually my attempts to interpret and portray the various strange and complex physics hypotheses about which I've read," Taylor writes on his site. The limitations of working in two dimensions led him to sculptural pieces in ceramic and hanging wood.

The exhibit is free to view. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The PCPA is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays. Theater performances may affect viewing hours; visitors can check powaycenter.com for the current schedule.

Parking is also free, but weekday visitors Tuesday through Friday need a parking pass. Visitors can pull into the loading zone on Titan Way outside the glass lobby doors, then pick up a temporary pass at the PCPA office inside the lobby.

The PCPA will be closed for art viewing on Thursday, Nov. 26, and Friday, Nov. 27, for Thanksgiving, and from Dec. 20 through Jan. 4, 2027.

The PCPA is located at 15498 Espola Road in Poway.