Grunt

Callum Abbott’s practice unfolds through a deeply intuitive, process-driven approach to drawing. Working spontaneously and abstractly, his drawings emerge without a predetermined outcome, exploring composition, mark-making, and negative space. Over time, recurring motifs have surfaced; checkerboards, bold black squares, mushroom-like forms, and hieroglyphic symbols, interwoven within organic, gestural marks. Rooted in life drawing, self-portraiture, and a childhood of cartooning, Abbott’s experimental approach matured through a fascination with performance and the intersections of drawing, collage, and sculpture. Found materials and collage have introduced new dimensions of colour and composition, while sculptural works extend his two-dimensional investigations into the physical space, confronting viewers with a tangible presence. Influences resonate from Dada and Surrealism, resulting in work that is subtly informed by art history, revealing a practice that is at once playful, exploratory, and visually enigmatic.

Grunt has been produced by the Broadway Gallery through its Letchworth Open Bursaries 2025 programme.

Biography

Callum Abbott is a UK-based visual artist whose practice spans abstract drawing, collage, and experimental performance. His work has been exhibited widely across London and Letchworth in both solo and group contexts, reflecting a sustained engagement with material, form, and collaborative processes.

Recent solo exhibitions include Cosmetic Anticlimax at Eastcheap Project Space, Letchworth (2023) and Red Sex at Eastcheap Project Space (2021). Earlier projects include the You Cannot Be Serious? series (2011), presented across London venues including Workspace Kennington Park and the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon.

Abbott has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London (2022), Letchworth Open (2021–2025), and ArtWalks.xyz at NN Contemporary, Northampton (2024).

His practice is underpinned by a commitment to drawing, narrative exploration, and performative engagement, continually expanding the boundaries of abstract visual expression through collaborative and site-responsive projects.