Nick Gadbois: Restoring Meaning to Abstract Art

Check out Gadbois' work in the BGT Lobby through December.

Nick Gadbois, our featured artist of the month, is a visionary painter whose journey into the world of art began under the influence of his father, a commercial illustrator. Introduced to surrealism and pop art in his teenage years, Gadbois embarked on a creative path that led him to redefine the boundaries of abstract painting.

In the late 1980s, Gadbois made his mark in the art scene of Los Angeles, experimenting with unconventional mediums like cement. His unique approach led him to exhibit in cities such as San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Taos and Kansas City. His cement work led to public art projects, including the creation of precast cement panels for the Tri Cities Cancer Center in Kennewick, Washington.

Gadbois' artistic journey is marked by a diverse range of genres, all unified by his use of real-life scenes and objects. Influenced by his encounter with Andy Warhol in the 1960s, Gadbois incorporates real-world phenomena into his surreal landscape paintings. His abstract works draw inspiration from Native American petroglyph sites, circuitry, cuneiform tablets and even maps.

Gadbois embraces the bold use of color. Employing fluorescent acrylic underpainting, he elevates color saturation to address complex themes such as memory, climate change, the nuclear era, alternate reality, and artificial life.

His latest series, “Boundary Lines,” delves into the demarcations of land, creating abstract paintings based on the shapes of counties that make up different states—a visual commentary on how the American landscape was divided and controlled.

Gadbois' innovative approach challenges the traditional boundaries of abstract art. By using existing objects as the scaffolding for his exploration of painting, he seeks to restore meaning to abstract art.

Top row (left to right): Rocky Mountain Way, Counties of Missouri, Dakota Territory; Bottom row (left to right): Kansas Quilt, The Missouri Breaks, Cimarron Grasslands