Douglas Anderson “Red Trees and Walking Mountains”

Douglas Anderson “Red Trees and Walking Mountains”

Blue Mountain Gallery

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The Blue Mountain Gallery presents Red Trees and Walking Mountains, an exhibition of new paintings by Douglas Anderson. In his 6th showing at the Blue Mountain, Anderson continues to explore ink as a medium for painting. Taking to heart Hans Hoffman’s idea that an artist should always have nature in mind, Anderson continually works around and through the quintessential motifs of nature, figure and landscapes. As always, he invites viewers to make of his paintings what they will. In the Red Trees paintings, for example, the color red representing trees is only one interpretation: the localized focus of single color in narrow bands can also be seen as compacted, attenuated paintings within paintings. Similarly, the painting called “Walking Mountain,” taken from the imagery of the 13th century Zen master Dogen, invites viewers to question their own vantage points. The intention is not to create a puzzle but rather to invite personal meditation.

Artist’s statement: In my work, I give myself the freedom to improvise. I’m inspired by the radical improvisation of avant-garde jazz and abstract expressionism. The challenge is to make the process my own and get beyond the generic. When I paint, I invite the accidental, the contingent. I let an image develop on its own without forcing a conclusion. Often it falls apart, communicates nothing, and I begin again. Sometimes I see something new that speaks to me and it leads to more painting. By slow increments, these improvisations start to coalesce and to suggest a beginning of some unknown cosmology. I always want to invite the viewer to participate in the creation of my work by seeing in it something that speaks to them. So much of my work is about trying to find out what I’m trying to say. For me, painting has to be this way: to know beforehand what is to be said is deny painting its voice.

Media

• Painting

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