Born in Manhattan, I grew up in my father's Greenwich Village Painting studio. I earned a B.F.A. in Painting from Syracuse University (1977), then travelled and studied in Florence and London. Moving to Charlotte, N.C. in 1980, I showed for 14 years there with Center of the Earth Gallery.
Included in New American Painting Vol.22 in 1999, I was selected as a Resident Artist at the McColl Center for Visual Art in 2000. In 2002 I showed 16 paintings in 'Invisible Cities' at Davidson College. I was selected for 3 'Truth to Power' Juried shows at Durham, N.C.'s Pleiades Gallery (2017, 2018, and 2019). In 2019 'Interrogation' was chosen for 'Open 30', an International Juried Exhibition at Laredo College in Laredo, Texas. In 2021 'Shipwrecks' was selected for 'Best of the East Coast' at 311 Gallery in Raleigh, N.C. In 2022, 2 paintings were selected for "Tell It Slant', a Nationally juried show of 'Political Art With Wit', at the Cade Gallery in Arnold, MD.
In 2025, Site::Brooklyn online included my ‘Forest of Suicides’ in Painting Today, Hyperallergic included my studio in their ‘View From the Easel’ feature., and ‘Ghosts’ was accepted in Site:Brooklyn’s ‘Landscape/Urban Landscape’ Exhibition.
Recently, I’ve been represented by a beautiful NOLA gallery; WineArtGallery, on Julia St. I'm married to sculptor/painter Rebecca Jones. We have a daughter, Alexandria Tao, a fine jazz pianist, and are now living in New Orleans, La.