Flashes of Memory
Paintings by Self-Taught Artist Linda Anderson

March 23 - April 19, 2001

Linda Anderson's "flashes of memory," transform the hardscrabble life she knew as a child in the mountains of rural Georgia into scenes of community ritual, rural tranquility, and family celebration. On exhibit at the Mishkin Gallery, the paintings of this self-taught artist depict a world ordered by the seasons, by farm chores, and family gatherings. Typically, her figures are small, the fields and mountains that surround them dominate their lives as they do the artist's canvases.

Anderson's own life knew no such serenity. She began painting twenty years ago while keeping vigil at the bedside of her semi-conscious daughter. The images she put on canvas she calls, "a gift from God"--they came to her as a respite from the painful realities of attending a sick child. "Flashes of Memory," curated by Mishkin gallery director Sandra Kraskin, is Linda Anderson's first New York exhibition. Here, Anderson's meticulously depicted vignettes from the past are the principal works. But in addition to her paintings of idealized rural life--she could be called a Southern Grandma Moses-- Anderson also paints exotic animals, including zebras and tigers, purely from imagination, and more recently, canvases of bold abstract composition, based on the moving patterns she sees during episodes of migraine headache. A resident of Clarksville, Georgia, Linda Anderson has achieved a devoted local following and exhibited her work at galleries throughout the South.

As is the case with most popular or "folk" artists, Anderson's paintings are born of a deep personal necessity. Her scenes of quilting, cockfighting, and tomato canning are suffused with harmony and laced with humor. She understands fully that the actual past was coarser and less picturesque. Her art is based on a transforming vision, one that is both nostalgic and deeply spiritual.

Flashes of Memory: Paintings by Self-Taught Artist Linda Anderson will be at the Mishkin Gallery, from Friday, March 23 to Thursday, April 19.

The Sidney Mishkin Gallery is located at Baruch College, 135 East 22 Street, New York City.
Gallery hours are:
Monday-Friday, 12 noon-5 p.m.
Thursdays, 12 noon-7 p.m.
Free and Open to the Public.

© 2001 Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College

Zane Berzins (news office)
(212) 802-2881
zberzins@newton.baruch.cuny.edu