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Although he began his career painting authentic wildlife, Abbot Low now
confabulates whimsical animals in wild settings.
Working from the imagination, he conjures whatever idealistic forms enter his
mind. Parts of various real birds and animals
are combined into single, fantastic images, posed in an environment conceived
by the artist.
Low's creatures speak well of him. If they don't reveal their humorous genesis
immediately, he helps by supplying a
revelatory title. There's little to no pain in contemplating these fantasies.
Even the potentially fearsome "Cat-O-Lanterns" are
lighthearted in the desert night, accompanied by a bat and full moon. The "Ladybirds" are
more domestic, with diagnostic
polka-dotted wings. Garrulous as grosebeaks, they flock among wildflowers before
neat mountains and puffy white clouds.
Preferring oil on canvas, the artist sketches his fantasies on paper or directly
on the canvas, developing the image and adding
color. The results are sophisticated visual allusion with a surrealist flavor,
which lend an air of rationality to the absurd.
Provoking the private excellence of American folk art, Low's abstractions are
eloquent, iconic and aesthetically pleasurable.
Abbot was born in Philadelphia on January 2, 1961. His family then moved to
Providence, Rhode Island and during his childhood there, Low drew imaginary
animals. He attended art classes at the rhode Island School of Design and later
studied
painting at college in Vermont and Maine. Displayed in art festivals, his wildlife
paintings proved popular. He then moved out
to Santa Cruz, California and lived there for eighteen years, creating more
bizarre creatures on canvas. He displayed pieces in restaurants and galleries
and sold some. He then moved back East and now lives and works in Bristol,
Rhode Island.
"It is a pleasure to escape reality by exploring my inner self through
painting."
