Robin Utterback (born: Robert Franklin Utterback)(1949–2007) was a contemporary artist from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Career

Born in the small town of

Holton, Kansas Holton is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,401. History The party that chose the site of Holton started at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in May 1856. A ...

, Utterback graduated from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in fine arts in 1971 and specialized in abstract painting. Utterback's works were displayed in other parts of the United States and the world. Houston museums that displayed his works include the Menil Collection and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Donahue/Sosinski Art in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

showcased some of Utterback's works. Often described as a "painter's painter", Utterback was a contemporary abstract artist and an integral part of the Houston art community for more than thirty years. Utterback's body of work varied from monochromatic planes emphasizing surface and light, to deconstructed, three-dimensional reliefs in which paint and plaster were layered directly upon the wooden substrate of the canvas. Drawing played a more dominant role in his later work, and he explored line and gesture by painting on unprimed canvas.

Death

At around 6:30 P.M. on March 29, a fire erupted in a metal warehouse in the 2300 block of Grant Street near Fairview in the Neartown area of Houston. Utterback became unconscious and was extracted from the burning building. Fifty-seven-year-old Utterback died of his injuries on March 30 at the

Memorial Hermann Hospital A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

in the

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrate ...

; his death was pronounced at 6:05 A.M. On April 2, 2007, investigators found that 56-year-old Clifford David Gaylord, Utterback's roommate, fatally stabbed Utterback before setting the fire."Medical examiner says local artist was stabbed to death"
April 02, 2007, Houston Chronicle Policemen found Gaylord seriously injured on March 30 at 100 Heights Boulevard after Gaylord attempted to commit suicide by being hit by a train. Gaylord, admitted to Ben Taub General Hospital, died of his injuries at 6:07 A.M.

References

External links

Utterback at Ask Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utterback, Robin 1949 births 2007 deaths American contemporary artists Rice University alumni People from Holton, Kansas Deaths by stabbing in Texas Murder–suicides in Texas