Allan Anderson solo exhibition "Discovering Painting"

 Allan Anderson’s solo exhibition “Discovering Painting” begins August 7 with an opening reception at City Art from 5-8pm. Anderson began painting in 2011 during his undergraduate studies at the University of South Carolina. His growing interest led him to study abroad at The International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy where he spent the summer working intensively in the landscape and studying Italian painting. He went on to receive a Bachelors of Fine Art at the University of South Carolina with a concentration of painting in 2012. He displayed his work in the Solo Senior Exhibit in the McMaster School of Fine Art in 2012. Anderson is the recipient of the Ed Yaghjian Award from the University of South Carolina for distinguished undergraduate work, and he is currently pursuing his Masters of Art in Teaching at the University of South Carolina. Anderson has participated in group and solo exhibitions in Columbia, South Carolina and Montecastello, Italy. This is his first solo exhibition as a professional painter. The exhibition will continue through August 30, 2014.

Anderson comments, “I have been working as an observational painter for the past 4 years. Through my encounters with painting and the insight I have gained in my studies, I have discovered that painting is a rewarding lifelong pursuit. Working from nature has augmented my education as a painter. My interest in natural light, for example, has led to a focused investigation into the interaction of color and has resulted in discoveries that fuel my motivation to work.

”Currently I am interested in the effects of natural and artificial light on forms and within a variety of spaces. There is a story in the way objects fill a space and how they relate to one another. I am very intrigued by pictorial tensions between objects and how they form a rhythm and narrative of a space. I am fascinated not only by how objects relate to one another but also how they relate to me spatially. Working from life allows me to paint the way I perceive a space. Ideally, I would like for my paintings to give the viewer a chance to participate and hopefully feel a similar involvement to what I feel while I am painting. I aim to convey these experiences in my paintings through certain aspects of realism and underlying abstract qualities. In this exhibit these ideas come together with a collection of still lives and local landscapes I have painted in the past 2 years. “

City Art Gallery is located at 1224 Lincoln St. in the historic Congaree Vista area in Columbia, South Carolina. Gallery hours are Monday – Thursday 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., Friday 10:00 am until 5 p.m., and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information contact Wendyth Wells, City Art Gallery, at 803-252-3613 or email ww@cityartonline.com. Visit online at www.cityartonline.com.