Abbott makes text-based paintings that operate between the space of reading and seeing.
Wausau, Wisconsin born John Phillip Abbott has had solo exhibitions at Baronian Xippas, Brussels, Belgium; Xippas, Paris, France; Gleichapel, Paris, France; COUNTY Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida; Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, New York; Devening Projects, Chicago, Illinois; Galerie Bertrand, Geneva, Switzerland and was included in an exhibition at the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut.
Abbott makes text-based paintings that operate between the space of reading and seeing and are in dialogue with the history of geometric abstraction. The letters make reference to the modernist grid and become an economic vehicle for organizing space. Chosen words are grounded in memory or personal experience yet allow for multiple readings and poetic rumination. Words or phrases may speak to something larger than their original context or autobiographical association especially when combined with an economic use of color, line and shape. They often speak to the process of painting itself and to life. The words become stand-ins for the references they describe, and the colors and patterns add layers of synesthetic associations.
Abbott is represented by Galerie Xippas and currently lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
