Designed, Cut in Steel and Created At Duncan Galvanizing 40 Years ago By The Sculptor Douglas Abell
By Josh Resnek
Four decades ago, at Duncan Galvanizing, the sculptor Douglas Abdell was at the beginning of a long road that finds him ranked among the world’s major sculptors and thinkers.
He was then, and remains today, working with boundless energy and passion, a creator who lives entirely as an artist.
I observed him 40 years ago at Duncan Galvanizing many times when he was casting large format, brilliant steel pieces, heavy in their mass, powerful in their ability to inspire thought, and eternal in their presence inside museums, outside in parks and urban settings, and held around the world in private collections.
I knew Abdell then. We became lifelong friends then. I remain friendly with him today.
He is an enormous intellectual figure with an infinite belief in himself and what he does. He is not only a sculptor. He is an art historian, a lover of great literature and music, an art aficionado, and a major player in a world where sculpture and art remain significant messengers of the ethereal and that which cannot be reasonably explained to those of us seeking answers to the mysteries of our lives.
Abdell’s sculpture is about a grander vision of ourselves. It is about geometry, language, experience, dreams and vision. Above all, it is about the grandeur of art and one man’s pursual of perfection.
The sculpture included in this article is an Aekyad. Adbell named his works in a language of his own construction.
When reached at his home in Spain earlier this week, Abdell said the following:
“In Aekyad history there were various periods and evolutions … First starting in my second period of being a hermit ..in South Strafford, Vermont. During the day I would cast bronze Kryads and at night I made paintings that would then evolve into Aekyads.
“There was, in this lineal activity which stretched in time and geography , as I was moving in intervals … an amplification of the actual Aekyads … from small solid cast bronze … then welded sheet bronze and steel … primarily done in my studio in Everett.
“It came to a point where I wanted to work on a larger scale. That’s where Duncan Galvanizing in Everett came into the scene. There I was able to buy large sheet hot rolled steel and build these new larger Aekyads …. it was a prolific period. I always keep close to my chest , mind and heart my Everett “ Studio “ at Duncan Galvanizing.”
Now in his early 70’s, Abdell continues to work every day. A recent showing of his most current works in a London art studio was a great success.
How ironic it is that some of the world’s most stunning black steel sculptures were produced here in Everett, at Duncan Galvanizing, when Douglas Abdell’s life stretched before him like an endless dream.