Artist Statement
My works on canvas are abstract landscapes. Dividing the canvas into what resemble parcels (or pixels), I create rhythms and mosaics of geometric pattern, emphasizing flatness and materiality while embracing chance in what is a controlled, structural process. Beyond the mark making and ground texture of the artwork are underlying narratives related to the landscapes from which the materials are sourced. In this sense, my work is related to Robert Smithson's concept of 'non-site' where material is displaced from its natural setting and recontextualized as an aesthetic object.
My approach to the canvas is inspired by methods of land management and urban planning. I use select agricultural and industrial processes such as the Jeffersonian grid, platting, and pivot irrigation as inspiration for structuring my compositions. These traditional methods of dividing and structuring open landscape, for example, the American Midwest or Manhattan, has its own history in relation to the minimalist and Jeffersonian grid. The harvested material I choose to explore these narratives with is not with paint but granular, natural resources I stabilize in resin.
Although my use of natural resources reinforces the connection between art, culture, and land, these abstract landscapes are meant to inspire moments of awe similar to the transcendent qualities found in nature. Art and landscape are two subjects that have historically been used to express the sublime as explored in 19th century English picturesque, Hudson River School, early 20th century abstract art, and Abstract Expressionists in their respective genres. The experience of an awe-inspiring landscape such as Half Dome in Yosemite or the view from Angel's Landing at Zion National Park have similar spiritual resonance to an Agnes Martin or Thomas Cole painting. My art allows me to reconnect with these sublime moments of nature.
CV
Education
2028
UVA Masters of Landscape Architecture, Charlottesville, VA
2012
Emerson College, VMA: Post-Production (BA), Boston, MA
Solo Exhibitions
2018
Your Head is on Fire, Hill Prince, Washington, DC
Pigtown, 918 Ramsay, Baltimore, MD
Yes! We’re Open, Blind Barber, New York, NY
Group Exhibitions
2023
Manual Dialogues, Salon Gallery, New York, NY
2021
Site:Brooklyn, Landscape:Exploring the Built and Grown, New York, NY
Bronx Museum of the Arts, AIM Biennial, New York, NY
BWAC, Prints 2021, Brooklyn, NY
2020
Halcyon Arts Lab, By the People, Washington, DC
Archipelago Auction, Archipelago Books, New York, NY
2019
La Bodega Gallery, RE:RE:RE Patterns, New York, NY
Babayaga Gallery, Grand Buffet, Hudson, NY
Ex Ovo Gallery, Big Summer T-Shirt Show, Dallas, TX
Transformer, Silent Auction, Washington, DC
2018
RATA Projects, Signs Foretelling, New York, NY
Trestle Gallery, Watch It Burn, New York, NY
Vicki Projects, Vicki & Friends, New York, NY
2017
ArtHelix Gallery, Invitational IV, Brooklyn,NY
Local Project, Animalia, New York, NY
Chris Davison Gallery, The Nude, Newburgh, NY
Awards & Residencies
2020
FCA Emergency Grant Covid-19 Fund, New York, NY
Rauschenberg Emergency Grant Fund, New York, NY
NYFA Tri-State Relief Fund, New York, NY
The Haven Foundation, Crisis Grant, Brewer, ME
Artists Fellowship, Inc., Emergency Artist Grant, NY, NY
Wherewithal Recovery Grant, Washington Project for the Arts, D.C.
2019
Bronx Museum of the Arts, AIM Fellowship, New York, NY
Manhattan Graphics Center, Scholarship, New York, NY
2018
The Studios at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
Trestle Artist Residency, Brooklyn, NY
Hemera, Tending Space Fellowship, Zen Mountain Monastery
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Temple Scholarship
UrbanGlass, Neon Scholarship
2017
ESKFF, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
Zen Arts Studio, Fire Lotus Temple, Brooklyn, NY
2016
Vicki Island, Newburgh, NY
Bibliography
2021
New American Paintings, Issue #154
The Agonist, A Nietzsche Journal
2020
Museum of Non-Visible Art Interview, Yale University Radio
2018
Create! Magazine, Artist Highlight, International Print XII
Murze Magazine, Issue III (Minimalist Edition)
Artist Bio
Andre Bogart Szabo is a painter living and working in Red Hook, Brooklyn. He creates paintings on canvas and works on paper. In 2022 he was featured in New American Paintings and in 2021 he was selected to participate in the Bronx Museum Fellowship Program. He has received numerous awards from organizations that include Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Rauschenberg Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, Anolic Family Awards, and Artists Fellowship. Past residencies include The Studios at MASS MoCA, Trestle Art Space, and the Kaminsky Foundation at Mana Contemporary. He graduated from Emerson College in 2012 with a degree in Visual Media Arts. He is currently in pursuit of a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia.