Blog Installation No. 7: Ossia Fine Arts Space

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Caroline Anderson stopped by the gallery today. Her comments on the show: "I'm interested in art that is not cranked-out mechanically in response to some perceived commercial market. The strength of the show is the connection to humanity. The art is tactile and you want to touch it. You can almost experience the making of the art."

A painter, a digital art professor, and art entrepreneur, Caroline was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, studied art with the Institute for European Studies in Vienna and Paris, and earned an MFA from Ohio University. Currently teaching at Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, which has a European study abroad program, Caroline is studying German to be able to teach animation and interactive media classes in Berlin. She is working with a Berlin artist on the Confession Station Project, which is a "confession / gallery / collaboration" artistic hybrid.

Caroline Anderson. Switch Statement. 2008.
Mixed media, 24" x 24".

"My paintings are highly crafted, with very thick layers of paint and texture buildup. The 'handmade' character of the paintings is emphasized and is very apparent when you see them; each successive layer reveals a bit of what went before, as though one could visually excavate through time. The tactile quality of the paintings is in deliberate contrast to the flatland quality of computer-based art and computer generated imagery. I am interested in emphasizing the difference between handmade and machine-generated work."

Caroline Anderson. Spooner 2. 2008.
Mixed media, 24" x 24".

Stylistically, Caroline reveals that her work has been influenced by Kandinsky; Klee; Gee's Bend, Alabama, quilters; Gerhardt Richter; Sigmar Polke; and German neoexpressionists, among others. Reflecting her interests in crafts, travel, geography, language, and humanity, her paintings are mixed-media collages, including acrylic paints and mediums, pumice, building materials, and textiles.

Her recent shows and exhibitions include: 2008 London Biennale, England; Spectrum, North Shore Country Day School, Winnetka, IL, 2008; Caroline Anderson: Paintings, Gallery H, Three Oaks, MI, 2007; Fresh Faces, Judy Saslow Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Thank You, ARC Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Art Against AIDS, Gallery 180, Chicago, 2007; Caroline Anderson: Recent Paintings, Gallery 180, Chicago, 2006. She will be showing her work at Ginny Syke's Studio Rose as part of the Ravenswood Art Walk in early October.

For more information on Caroline and her art, please visit:
Personal website: http://www.carolineanderson.net
Business website: http://artandtechnology.net
Berlin blog: http://www.chicagoartist.blogspot.com