Wausau, Wisconsin born John Phillip Abbott has exhibited internationally with solo exhibitions at Baronian Xippas, Brussels, Belgium; Xippas, Paris, France; Gleichapel, Paris, France; COUNTY Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida; Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, New York; Devening Projects, Chicago, Illinois; Galerie Bertrand, Geneva, Switzerland and was included in an exhibition at the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut.

Abbott makes text-based paintings that operate between the space of reading and seeing. His words and titles are grounded in memory or personal experience. They allow for multiple readings and poetic rumination. The letters, making reference to the grid, are sometimes interrupted and partly camouflaged by layers of striped patterns and expressive plumes of pigment. The words become stand-ins for the objects or places they describe, and the colors and patterns add layers of synesthetic associations.

Abbott currently lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated with an MFA from the University of Wisconsin in 2007. Abbott is represented by Galerie Xippas and Brintz Gallery.