Anderson Ranch Editions: Gregory Botts
About the Artist
Gregory Botts developed as a figurative and landscape painter under the tutelage of New York school rebels Paul Georges and Fairfield Porter – two artists seeking a relevant, modern vocabulary for representational painting that also honored certain ideas from Abstract Expressionism. Over his career, Botts has injected poetry, philosophy and critical theory into his continuing search for a painting style that marries the abstract to the concrete.
Born in landscape, apprenticed in abstraction and now a seasoned synthesis of the two, Gregory Botts is devoted to the power of color and brush. In spite of his innovation, or perhaps because of it, he is recognized today as a member of the National Academy. Currently living in both New York and New Mexico, the artist chooses to begin his creative process by painting en plein air. However, Botts does not limit himself to the tangible environment. Instead, he focuses on the ever-changing scenery that he interprets as allegory. Unlike his predecessors and contemporaries, Botts brings a modern edge to this deep-rooted subject by reforming his “sketches” in his studio. It is in the city that he alters the initial compositions and paints big, sometimes 10-foot canvases, which become poetically grounded abstractions of his experience. In the final development of his work, Botts brings juxtapositions of abstract surface to naturalist spaces to bear. This is most apparent in his studio ‘scapes’, which are assembled views of the painting’s elements within his studios.
Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1952, Gregory Botts attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City, as well as assisted the artist Paul Georges. He received a scholarship to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Botts’ work can be found in many private and public collections including, Denver Art Museum, Denver CO; La Jolla Museum of Art, San Diego, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Honolulu, HI; Federal Reserve Washington, DC; Mint Museum of Art Charlotte, North Carolina; IBM, New York; and Chase Manhattan Bank, NY. He has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows across the United States.
Contact Us
Prints are available for purchase and the proceeds provide ongoing support for all Ranch programming. If you have questions about the Anderson Ranch Editions program, or would like help with a purchase, please email [email protected], or call 970.923.3181.