08-09-2011 - 24-09-2011
What is it that catches and holds our attention in Jackie Anderson’s paintings?
Her candid portraits of strangers occupying the same space, busily passing each other, but perhaps never meeting in reality, dispense with the traditional relationship between the artist and sitter. The work explores moments of unconscious physical gesture, and the private nature of time spent alone in public on the busy streets of Glasgow and Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad.
In this new selection of images, Jackie studies strangers reflections, captured in a split second, caught in the windows of shops and passing vehicles, and combined together. At times, they merge momentarily, strangers who may have glimpsed one another briefly, or may not have seen one another at all, echoes of a transient population, temporarily embedded in their urban environment. Isolated, ‘Alone Together’ they make up some kind of picture and pattern which is unique.
Jackie Anderson’s paintings are exquisitely executed, sharing an underlying concern with colour, tone and reduction. Certain details are carefully described whilst others are eliminated leaving us to fill in the gaps. She thus invites us to participate in the painting, forming our own relationship with her subjects. The transparent washes of paint create a surface appearing to be delicately stained rather than painted upon, thus creating unusually fragile and quiet images, as if seen through veils of soft muslin.
A graduate of Aberdeen (MA Hons) and Dundee (Master of Fine Art), Jackie has exhibited throughout the U.K and U.S.A., winning numerous awards including the Alastair Salvesen Art Scholarship, and has work in private and corporate collections including The Fleming Collection, The Royal Bank of Scotland and the Royal Scottish Academy.
