October 26, 2020
An Interview with artist:
Jerry Anderson
Jerry Anderson
Jerry Anderson is an artist based in Healdsburg, CA. His paintings are an expression of his appreciation for the mysteries of life, the cosmos and the continual dance of male and female energies.
Working in acrylic on canvas, Anderson creates abstract compositions that sensuously pair color with form. Series of undulating contours and cascading crevices give life to anthropomorphic shapes and elements from the natural world that seem to extend beyond the picture plane.
Informed by extensive travels to exotic locales like Morocco, Turkey and the American southwest, Anderson’s paintings explore manifestations of the archetypal female image. As a result, his works are Infused with wonder and curiosity, revealing a sense of intimacy, spirituality and the sublime.
This effect is underscored by his visual vocabulary which is deeply influenced by Georgia O’Keefe. Using a vibrant palette of red, blue, purple, yellow, orange and green, his modernist tableaux produce a curious balance of feminine underpinnings and masculine authorship.
Anderson is currently featured in Unbound Perspectives, a group show which celebrates the countless ways a single subject can be interpreted and appreciated, which is on view from September 26th – October 17th at Agora Gallery in New York City.
Artist Statement
Painting is an expression of my ongoing pursuit of discovering all that life offers. Myriad connections and possibilities present themselves at each moment… a cobblestone street that conceals a face, a cave that reveals a woman’s body, or a dream that intimates cosmic relationships. Engaging in each painting focuses this journey for me and provides a quiet unknowing that reveals new surprises, new connections and a fullness of heart. I am awed by the creative energy that activates this life and indeed our whole universe. My paintings are my reaching for contact with this energy. In my work, the female form inevitably emerges as the image which most visibly represents universal creativity for me. My wish remains that these works wake us to deepening questions that remind us of the miracle, mystery and oneness of all.
Antelope Canyon 1, 2018 Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 20 | $1500
Antelope Canyon 2, 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 20 | $1500
Antelope Canyon 6, 2019 Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 20 | $1500
Blue Grotto, 2007 Acrylic on Canvas 48 x 36 | $4300
Cappadocia 1 (Star Ship), 2015 Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 18 | $1050
Cappadocia 4 (Star Seeds - Summer), 2015 Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 24 | $1450
Cappadocia 5 (Star Seeds - Spring), 2015 Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 24 | $1450
Desert Sojourn, 2020 Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 22 | $1650
Emerald Cliffs, 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 24 | $1450
Konya, 2020 Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 24 | $1450
Red Moon (Cappadocia 15), 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 40 x 40 | $4000
Sahara Storm, 2013 Acrylic on Canvas 22 x 30 | $1650
Sandstone Cave, 2009 Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 22 | $1650
Sedona Portal, 2007 Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 22 | $1650
Sleeping Landscape, 2006 Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 36 | $3200
Turbulence, 2010 Acrylic on Canvas 22 x 30 | $1650
Questionnaire
Name
Jerry Anderson
Website
https://jerryanderson-art.com/
Where you're based
Healdsburg, CA. 65 miles north of San Francisco, in a vineyard in Sonoma County.
How did you find yourself in the arts - or how did the arts find you?
From my earliest years, I was always drawing and painting. This led me to study architecture in college where I realized that for me painting and architecture were integral to one another. I co-practiced both for years until retiring from architecture to paint full time.
Who has been a big influence to you in your career?
Those who have been most influential are the ones that illustrate the value of experiencing living questions. Some express it by words and others by their works. Examples are Turner, Monet, Rodin, Gurdjieff, Debussy, Beethoven and Miles Davis.
When you hit a creative block, how do you move forward?
In my experience images spring from some aspect of universal creativity. Accessing this creativity requires me to be in touch with my inner self. The “blocks” appear when I lose touch with this. Stepping away from the painting to another activity or to quietly view nature often helps me to return.
How do you define success?
Success for me is continuing to express what I am compelled to explore. In other words, when a work is “completed”, I am excited to move forward to the experience of the next painting.
What legacy do you hope your work creates / What message do you hope it communicates?
For me, an artist is someone able to channel some aspect of the vast creativity of the universe. I know that when I can get out of the way of this process something magical can occur and this magic may open the viewer’s eyes in a new way … and for a moment they are in touch with divinity. That is my wish.
What has been an important lesson you have learned during your career?
Painting to please someone else never works – neither of you are pleased. Instead trust that your painting is an expression of something larger than yourself and will find the appropriate audience.
Finally, what advice might you give to your younger self?
Follow your heart.