The Sacrifice of Abel

Chris Guarisco’s The Sacrifice of Abel is a large-scale mixed media and encaustic work on gallery-wrapped canvas, signed and dated en verso. Created in 1984, the work depicts two ram-like forms within a dark, symbolically charged composition, with figural motifs around the border and layered surface treatment characteristic of encaustic media.

1984
Mixed media and encaustic on gallery-wrapped canvas
Signed and dated en verso
Unframed
83" H × 60" W
(210.8 cm H × 152.4 cm W)

About the Maker:
Chris Guarisco is an American artist born in Mississippi in 1958. His work is associated with mixed media, encaustic, and symbolic imagery, often incorporating religious, Gothic, and mythological references. A later exhibition of his work was held at Galerie Simonne Stern in New Orleans in 1998, where his imagery was described as including Christian iconography, Celtic ribbons, and Gothic symbolism. Guarisco’s The Sacrifice of Abel belongs to an early body of work connected to New Orleans exhibition history. The piece was exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, in 1984, the same year it was made, and later at Galerie Simonne Stern in 1990.