Ralph Anderson Anderson This Is For For You You
JGM GALLERY
Published by JGM Gallery, on the occasion of the exhibition
This Is For You Ralph Anderson 2nd May - 8th June 2019 Accompanying Text by Dominic Beattie Publication designed by Alice Wilson Photography by Damian Griffiths JGM Gallery 24 Howie Street London SW11 4AY info@jgmgallery.com ISBN 978-1-9160585-1-4 © 2019 JGM Gallery and the artists All rights reserved Cover Image: Fit The Myth (Detail) Leaf Image:Flower IV and Flower II
Ralph Anderson’s second solo exhibition, This Is For You is an exciting event for me and JGM Gallery. Ralph’s first solo exhibition in 2017 was fantastic. He exhibited his earliest ‘cut-out’ works. The show was admired by clients and artists alike and was a huge success for us. After two more years of steady work in his London studio, Ralph has moved forward with confidence and a self-assured style in this new body of work. They are arresting with their simple lines and as always, Ralph is a genius in making his colours sing. I am so delighted to welcome everyone to enjoy this exhibition. Thank you to Dominic Beattie for his insightful catalogue essay and his continued support and thank you to Ralph.
Jennifer Guerrini Maraldi April 2019
Ralph Anderson by Dominic Beattie I was invited to visit Ralph Anderson’s newest body of work at his studio a few weeks prior to his exhibition ‘This Is For You’. I had no preconceived idea of what Ralph had been making, despite discussing our practices most times we see each other. I was immediately shocked by the minimal nature of the new series, I had never really contemplated how maximalist Ralph’s work was, containing all types of gesture and marks they explode with visual energy. I didn’t expect the streamlined things in front of me, but the transition made complete sense and without being obvious, this was obviously the change that should have occurred. This radical reduction in information, pared down to a simple overlapping of squiggly lines was one of multiple paths Ralph could have taken to further progress his work. He has built up an impressive library of content and techniques to draw from as a painter, the new series could have consisted entirely of isolated gloopy expressive brush marks, hard edge geometric tesselation, roller lines, mysterious sprayed marks, or any other of the many styles he has developed. The works are direct translations of tiny rapid sharpie doodles, Ralph showed me hundreds of them in his studio, as we looked through them we could agree on which were successful and which were not. For such little, effortless looking things to be scrutinised is quite funny, but these drawings contain all the content Ralph requires to make his large wall pieces. Through his craftsmanship these drawings would be remade as beautiful permanent art objects. The speed of the doodles conception and creation is in stark contrast to the hard task of realising them large, in perfect cut and painted aluminium. Ralph’s process has always been a mystery to me, I can never unpick the puzzle, no matter how many times he explains how he makes his work, I always struggle to get it, I think it’s because he really has mastered his art and found his own unique way to create what he does. What I do know is that they
are incredibly labour intensive, and the new ones even more so than the frenetic stylistic mash ups of his earlier pieces. The casual look of this new series, developed entirely from 5 second doodles, belies the labour of their making. Ralph estimated that it took two full days of cutting to shape one of the larger works, metal on metal, sawing and rasping, it can’t have been a pleasant series to make but the finished works betray none of that labour, they are so elegant and complete, they look as if he has pulled the doodle off the paper and slapped it on the wall. Contextually the works echo pop art with their graphic high energy aesthetic, reminiscent of Lichtenstein or perhaps Wesselman, but they also have a deadpan quality that reminds me most of Claes Oldenberg. The act of taking a mundane everyday thing and enlarging it, is a classic abstract trope, drawing notice to the unremarkable. Where Ralph’s older work was an impressive exercise in technical painterly flair, this series of fresh paintings are totally representational, trompe l’oiel renditions of marker pen rhythms. Another paradox in the work. What looks completely abstract is actually studied and well rendered representation. What is most exciting to me about Ralph’s new work is the realisation that these simple coloured lines are enough. I think that all good artists reduce, they distill their work and remove the extraneous content. It’s something that only a mature artist can do. You have to try everything before you can get anywhere close to making a successful simple piece. Jumping straight to the minimal is pure fakery, years of labour are required before you can make something look as effortless as Ralph has. These works are not made from attitude but from knowledge and skill. Dominic Beattie 2019
This is For You 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 95cm
Outside the Desert 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 95cm
Spring Fresh 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 95cm
Landing Page 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 180 x 125cm
Preliminary Drawings 2019
Fit the Myth 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 95cm
Where We Don’t Belong 2019 Acrylic on Plywood 215 x 330cm
Like and Subscribe 2019 Acrylic on Plywood 230 x 210cm
Flower Painting I - IV 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 65 x 45cm
Little Quirk 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 60 x 90cm
Killer Squirrel 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 95cm
Additional Content 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 180 x 125cm
Time Release 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 95cm
Play Like That 2019 Acrylic on Aluminium 125 x 95cm
Ralph Anderson, b. 1977, Glasgow, UK.
Lives and works in London. Graduated from with an MA from Wimbledon School of Art, UAL in 2012 and with a BA Fine Art from London Guildhall University in 2001. Recent Exhibitions Include: ‘Re-Assemble,’ Collyer Bristow Gallery, (2019) ‘One Thousand Years’ Solo Exhibition, TM Lighting Gallery, London (2018) ‘Harder Edge’, Saatchi Gallery, London (2018) ‘Appropriate Matter’ Solo Exhibition, Canvas & Cream, London (2018), Artist in Residence’ Solo Exhibition, Gare du Nord Eurostar Business Premiere Lounge, Paris (2018) Lucent Umbra Paintings, Solo Exhibition, JGM Gallery, London (2017) The Future of Drip Pop, Solo Exhibition, ArtKapsule @ Koleksiyon, London (2015) I’d Like To Get Off Please, ASC Projects, London (2015) Retrobate, Solo Exhibition, ArtLacuna, London Collections Include: The Hospital Club, Cafe Murano, Landmark Plc, Bolivar-David Collection, Von Opel, Guerrini Maraldi and The Howden Collection.
Education MA Fine Art, Wimbledon College of Art, UAL, 2011 – 2012 BA Fine Art, London Guildhall University, 1998 – 2001
Solo Exhibitions
Summer Saloon, Lion and Lamb, London Expanded Painting: Mocka-Modern, Oval Space, London Post Canvas Assembly, The Miller, London A5, Lubomirov-Easton @ Art Athina, Athens
2013 Auction, C & C Gallery, London Drawing the Line, Art Kapsule, Koleksiyon, London Out of the Blue, Morley Gallery, London 2012 MA Show 2012, Wimbledon College of Art, London Paper Nautilus, Nautilus Press, London Wunderkammer, Bow Arts Trust, London Utterance, Centre for Drawing, London 2008 Ralph Anderson and Alice Wilson, Boat of Garten, Scotland Workforce, John Jones Art Centre, London Selected Group Exhibitions 2007 The Fastest With The Mostest, Carter & Gallagher, London 2019 Re-Assemble, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London Viewing Club VI, Hats Plus, London 2018 Harder Edge, Saatchi Gallery, London 2006 Viewing Club V, Secession Wichtelgasse, Vienna Do Re Mi Fa So La Te, Perimeter Space, Griffin Gallery, Carter Presents, Scope Art Fair, London London Rag and Bone, Three Colts Gallery, London 2017 Earth, Wind and Fire, Griffin Gallery, London Viewing Club IV, Henkel Stuben, Berlin Approximated Sunlight, Tannery Arts, London Viewing Club III, The Uxbridge Arms, London Interstices, Art Elsewhere, Stour Space, London 2005 Re-Escape, Hamburg 2016 30° Celsius, ASC Gallery, London Viewing Club II, The Uxbridge Arms, London The Fun Stops There, Art and Craft, London Viewing Club I, Henkel Stuben, Berlin Bonfire of the Vanities, Display Gallery, London 2015 Doppleganger, No Format Gallery, London Collections Contemporary British Abstraction, SE9 Container The Howden Collection Gallery, London The Hospital Club Invited Artist, SEEArt Fair, Tunbridge Wells Cafe Murano 2014 50/50/50, Syson, Nottingham Landmark Plc Pareidolia, Pluspace, Coventry Bolivar-David Collection The Lion and Lamb Summer Saloon, The Lookout Guerrini Maraldi Collection Tower, Aldeburgh 2018 One Thousand Years, TM Lighting Gallery, London Artist in Residence, Eurostar Business Lounge, Gare du Nord, Paris 2017 Appropriate Matter, C&C Gallery, London Lucent Umbra Paintings, JGM Gallery, London 2015 The Future of Drip Pop, ArtKapsule @ Koleksiyon, London I’d Like To Get Off Please, ASC Projects, London 2014 Retrobate, ArtLacuna, London
Opposite: Pencil and Felt Tip Study, 21 x 15.4cm, 2019
Ralph’s Studio, 2019
Ralph Anderson Ralph Anderson This You ThisIs Is For For You May- -8th 8th June 2019 2nd2nd May June 2019
JGM GALLERY
JGM GALLERY