Gregory L. Abbott
Sacred Cows of Art History: At the End of Innocence

The Artist - Gregory L. Abbott Gregory Abbott was born in 1945, and grew up in Bakersfield, California. Abbott says he can't recall a time when he didn't want to paint; he thinks his desire was inborn. He still remembers a preschool teacher taking him to task for not using the "right" colors for a drawing; even as a young child he was offended that someone would try to control his art work. His early perception of himself as an artist spawned the painting of murals on walls at home, and at twelve, the painting of a huge, reclining nude on his uncle's water tower in Parowan, Utah. Abbott's parents were supportive of his interests (unlike his uncle, who, shocked by the nude on the water tower, made him repaint the tower with solid gray primer, as the uncle had originally intended). In addition to encouraging his painting at home, his parents took him on frequent visits to Los Angles, to various museums and galleries. Abbott particularly remembers the opening exhibit of the Surrealists Dali, Miro, De Chirico, Ernst, and Duchamp at the new Los Angles County Museum. From that day on, AbbottÍs art leaned towards Surrealism. After graduating from high school, Abbott attended Brigham Young University and then transferred to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California, where he received both his Bachelor and Master of Fine Art degrees. Since graduating, Abbott has worked as an artist and interior designer, painting on material, on walls (now no one asks him to paint over his murals), and on ceilings, as well as creating numerous acrylic paintings. Gregory Abbott has paintings in private and public collections such as the Crocker Museum of Art in Sacramento, California; The Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah; The Salt Lake Art Center Collection, Salt Lake City, Utah; The State of Utah Permanent Collection, Salt Lake City, Utah; Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; and the Minnesota Museum of Art in St. Paul. Abbott has had shows at numerous galleries throughout Utah as well as at galleries in San Francisco, North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York. Abbott says he is most interested in paradox--where something seems to be one thing but can also mean something else. His surrealist paintings take ordinary objects and make us see the objects in new ways, make us question our automatic linkages of images and words. Abbott takes ordinary images like cows--his "everyman"- and establishes relationships that create new ways of seeing those objects, giving them new meanings and increasing our understanding of ourselves and others. His cow paintings, like Cows of Art History: at the end of innocence, express his feelings about life. He believes ordinary people, obscured by the group, have extraordinary events happen to them that spark heroic acts, greatness, or marvelous insight that set them apart from the group. Abbott also takes a humorous view of life, including in his art word plays and fanciful juxtapositions of ideas and motifs, as in his self-portrait, Cowboy. This portrait shows the artist in three-quarter length, stripped to the waist, appearing to have an interlocking design of cows tattooed on his torso. He says his future paintings will probably still be pictorial explorations of the universal truths that exist within paradoxical circumstances. Recently, he took a boat ride at Niagara Falls and was fascinated by the silence and quietude he experienced because of the deafening roar of the falls. So you can probably watch for new Gregory Abbott paintings with images based on his experience at Niagara Falls, which not only will demonstrate the intricacies of Abbott's mind but which also will aim viewers down their own contradictory and complex paths toward a broader vision. The Art GREGORY L. ABBOTT (1945- ) Salt Lake City/St. George, UT Sacred Cows of Art History: At the End of Innocence--Homage to Kurt Schwitters 1986 mixed media, 23" x 39 1/4" (58.8 x 99.4 cm) Museum purchase from 63rd Annual Spring Salon, SMA 1987.010 Gregory Abbott's surrealistic art expresses a unique point of view which includes a strong sense of mystery and the use of hidden images and word play, all combined with humor and satire. His cow paintings express his feelings about life: Ordinary people, obscured by the group, have extraordinary events happen to them that spark heroic acts, greatness, or marvelous insight and set those ordinary people apart from the group (Journey, Bio). Abbott's Sacred Cows of Art History: At the End of Innocence--Homage to Kurt Schwitters depicts a living room scene in which a cow is seen looking at a black and white cowhide couch set against a window. Also in the room are two wooden cow-shaped forms, one of which is covered with a collage of images and newspaper clippings. All the different shards and objects have come together to make the room. The cow appears startled to see the familiar-looking couch [cow-uch], itself a part of the cow. Abbott views the cow as being totally immersed in himself and, perhaps, headed toward his own destruction (Interview). Like all Abbott's paintings, the work has many layers and symbols and can be understood and appreciated on many levels. Sacred Cows of Art History is a tribute to the artist and writer Kurt Schwitters, who was a member of the Dadaist movement. The artists of this movement were disillusioned by World War I and as a result, promoted ironic and cynical anti-art. Although these artists expressed themselves in a number of different styles, their work all dealt with absurd and illogical subject matter, sharing a common emphasis on the importance of chance (Journey, Activities). Kurt Schwitters was born in Germany in 1887. He emigrated to Norway in 1937 and later fled to England in 1940 to avoid the Nazis, who considered him a degenerate artist and had put him on their death list. He died in England in 1948, at the age of 61. Schwitters is best known as the developer of a style of collage known as Merz [pronounced Mertz], which used old bus tickets, string, candy wrappers, newpapers, and other refuse to create images. The name came about by chance, as befitted a dadist form of art, when Schwitters cut the word "kommerz" from a newspaper, but then used only the last four letters in his collage. The artist referred to his collages as "Merzilden" [merz pictures] and his sculptural versions as "Merzbau" [merz buildings] (Journey, Activities). Abbott talks of Schwitters' work with enthusiasm, calling them "wonderful assemblages," which although Dadist, are "almost sentimental, conveying a strong sense of humanity." A piece owned by the Los Angeles County Museum has a "tenderness and sweetness about it," Abbott says. Abbott enjoys how Schwitters' works retain a sense of the origins of the found objects yet make a new whole, a quality evident in Abbott's own works (Interview). Continuing to paint as he did when he was a child, Abbott surrounds himself with dinner plates heaped with pigments and crouches over his work, which is placed on the floor of his studio. With this setup, he can work on a painting from all four sides. The different perspectives allow him to correct compostition and discover new shapes. "I love color, form and message," says Abbott. "It is all important to me. What I choose to paint makes sense of what I experience. It is the means used to analyze and justify my existence." (Alder, p. 3) Concepts Visual Art Core Curriculum - Utah State Office of Education Under the Standards of Media, Structures and Functions, and Subjects, Symbols, and Ideas, this print can help the student: * Explore a variety of media, techniques, and processes. Create a collage. Create a found object sculpture. * Use texture to create variety. Identify the function of art as a means of self-expression. * Create an image using the theme (idea) of the subconscious mind. Under the Standard of Context, this print can help the student: * Identify works of the Surrealist style, particularly artist Salvador Dali. * Investigate the psychological aspects in culture and in the individual student's life. Under the Standard of Evaluation and Criticism, this print can help the student: * Examine the expressive aesthetic stance in art creation. * Interpret the meaning of an artwork Under the Standard of Connections, this print can help the student: * Compare and contrast the use of variety in literature and visual art. * Make connections between the characteristics of visual arts within a particular historical period or style with ideas, issues, or themes in psychology. Under the Standard of Portfolios and Exhibitions, this print can help the student: * Conduct a self-evaluation which includes as assessment of art's intrinsic merit.