Kevin Sabo

Kevin Sabo completed the Flower Residency requirements of making five paintings, but managed to do it within 48 hours of arriving in Los Angeles. I never expected an artist to be so prolific in the short time allotted to the residency. He has averaged more than one painting a day while being here. A lot of bullshit fluff you hear about abstract painters actually capture Kevin's style of work, which is evident as soon as you see the wall of paintings he created. Quick gestures and impulsive marks emphasizing shapes, colors and lines explore emotions and ideas. He truly rejects traditional modes of representation. All expressions you could also find googling "ways to describe abstract painters."

It's hard to influence Kevin's subject matter. You could suggest 100 ideas to Kevin about things he should paint, and he won't paint any of them. Trust me I've tried. That's not to say the subject of Kevin's paintings haven't been influenced by Los Angeles. You can see it in the traffic, bird and the big beautiful house Kevin has drawn to make his own.

If you've been tracking Kevin's trajectory, you'll notice this work employs an entirely new level of graphite details to convey each subject. Kevin secures each painting with a thick layer of matte medium locking in the essence and tying it all together with streaks of grey. He found a color palette for this show that might be the biggest guiding force of how all the paintings come together.

Kevin is a painter. He loves painting. He does it everyday not because he has to, but because he truly wants to. The work is effortless. It comes from a serene place of happiness and confidence. Kevin Sabo doesn't make mistakes. He has happy accidents.

— David Maxwell, Flower Residency Host