This Is For You - Ralph Anderson

Ralph Anderson is a Glasgow born artist working in London. Dedicated to painting, he has developed his style over a 20 year career. Recent career successes have come through exhibiting with JGM Gallery and completing major commissions for Hospital Club where his work is on view across a 3 floor installation, as well as an installation for the Gare du Nord Paris Eurostar Business Premiere Lounge with 5 paintings created during his artist residency in 2018.

For his second solo show at JGM Gallery, Ralph Anderson presents ‘This Is For You’ an exhibition of paintings and drawings.

This is the first series in which Anderson has entirely isolated the mark. Where previously appropriated imagery and pattern were used to fill brush strokes such as Cy Twombly’s chalkboard and Günther Förg’s palette paintings. The work for ‘This is For You’ has developed in a representational direction, on first sight the work appears abstract, however these paintings act as representational renditions of the drawings that incubate these complex and painstakingly made artworks, separating the line in a comparable way to a Roy Lichtenstein brushstroke, accentuating the mark and material.

In a practice that has moved between abstraction and representation Anderson cites Katharine Grosse, Kristin Baker and Bernard Frize as key influences in his application of paint. Anderson’s paintings acknowledge their environment, the manner in which they are cut out exposes the wall behind, introducing a dialogue between the painting and it’s surroundings. This is highlighted further by Anderson giving each painting a florescent backing, radiating a coloured glow from behind each work, that directly brings the gallery walls into play with these fascinating works.