Hip Hop by YAMS in Chicago

Lewis Taylor (YAMS) bio Lewis Taylor was born 1981 in Charlottesville Virginia. Taylor began drawing writing and painting graffiti as a teenager in high school. After his graduation he attended Piedmont Virginia Community College where he studied design, sculpture, and life drawing. After two years of study he transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University to study Arts Education but quickly changed his major to Fine Arts and began studies with the Painting and Printmaking department. The last four of his semesters he spent as an honors painting student with a private group studio. In 2006 he graduated with a BFA. Eager to test his new skills and learning Taylor moved to Chicago in 2007. Since then he has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions. Some of the more notable organizations he has done work for include the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum, The Chicago Loop Alliance, The Elephant Room Gallery, The Vertical Gallery, Southern Illinois University and The Free Street Theatre. In 2014 he was awarded a solo exhibition and six month artist residency at Lacuna Artist Lofts, where he currently works. The artist known to some as YAMS is a resident of the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, but he has lived worked and painted in several Chicago neighborhoods such as Logan Square, Wicker Park and Humboldt Park.