“I want to reinstate painting’s relevance within contemporary art,” Charlie Anderson tells me when I ask about his motivations and aspirations as an artist. Anderson explains that while at ECA there was an overwhelming shift away from painting towards conceptual art, and that sometimes encouragement of the practice of painting was lacking. Through his work he explores the various possibilities available through painting, testing the boundaries between fine art and street art and how this can be applied to the gallery space.
Dubbed 'graffiti pop art' by the Henderson Gallery, Anderson’s art effortlessly combines a plethora of influences from Rauschenberg and Lichtenstein to Bast and the Brooklyn street-art collective Faille. He employs images derived from all aspects of popular culture, from beer bottle labels to nightclub flyers; these images are juxtaposed to create a collage like aesthetic, which results in a layered and textual quality in his work. This is influenced by his interest in the transience of billboard advertising where the overlapping of the old and new forms a fragmented whole in which the meaning is redefined.
Anderson’s work entices and teases the viewer with its alluring fantastical comic book girls, distorted through the addition of labels such as Versace, Chanel and Coca-Cola. When asked what relevance Pop Art holds today Anderson replies that, as one is bombarded by advertisements on a daily basis, and consumerism is so entrenched within our society, it remains as important as it was in the 1950s. Although the triumph of Pop Art is often considered to have been its effect on people’s perception of what constitutes an artwork, the aesthetic that Anderson has developed through the marrying of styles and influences is hugely effective.
The Henderson gallery, where Anderson's first solo show Bliss is currently being exhibited, is a modest space that offers a platform for young artists to showcase their work. Operating as a commercial gallery, it allows the artists to sell their works in a professional environment, but not tying them into a contract, and thus allowing them the much-needed freedom which is vital in the early development of their careers. Talking to the gallery director, he told me that Anderson’s work was brought to his attention through both his degree show and its appearance on walls around his neighbourhood.
The contrasting elements of fine art and street art present within Anderson’s work are reflected in thecuration of the show, where framed pieces are exhibited alongside bare canvases pasted to the wall, reminiscent of billboards. These contrasts are further enforced through a glass box in the centre of the exhibition displaying the various mediums and techniques exploited by the artist, from acrylic paint to spray cans and stencils. Anderson was also keen to tell me that he had been invited by the gallery to paint the garage outside the space. His instinct is to play around with these influences; to continue where Pop Art left off, challenging what is acceptable within the confines of the gallery space.
Anderson’s latest works use stencils formed through a series of horizontal lines to recreate landscapes, scenes of traffic and alluring women. The works continue the trend of recreating images through fragmentation. They are sprayed onto cardboard, and whilst the images only consist of line, the result is sculptural. These are the highlight of the show, as they feel less derivative of his earlier influences, and while maintaining the concepts that are apparent in the earlier works, they develop a new mode of expression.
Although some of Anderson’s works may seem reliant on his influences, they introduce an effective marrying of styles and continue the discourse started by Pop Art of what exactly constitutes an artwork. With his works already in high profile collections like that of British Airways, and his shortlisting for the prestigious Jerwood painting prize, Charlie Anderson is an exciting prospect for the future.
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