Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jackson County Campus Fine Arts Gallery is hosting “12 Bar Bridge: Rhythm in Portrait,” an art exhibition by Chad Anderson, August 29 – October 3. An opening reception was held in the gallery at 1 p.m. on August 29.
For many years, exploring the modes through which music and visual art intersect has been a conceptual driving force behind the processes found in Anderson’s work. In “12 Bar Bridge: Rhythm In Portrait,” he revisits his earliest methods of weaving music and art together.
“I may have been 5 or 6 years old when I battled my first portrait – a graphite struggle on ruled notebook paper,” Anderson says. “For whatever reason, I chose to reproduce the image of the musician to whom I was listening, perhaps in search of a more direct connection to the music.”
Upon reflection, Anderson found that this action signaled the beginning of a lifelong, overarching approach toward integrating music and art. “More than 35 years later, as I began working on the imagery for this current body of work, I chose to reflect on that specific experience, to find relevance in that effort. Years of creating mostly nonobjective imagery related to music, coupled with years of performing as a musician and even, at times, combining art and music in the moment of live performance, I felt a need to revisit my roots in terms of approach.”
Part reverence and partially a need for unapologetic clarity, Anderson chose to look again at the concept of portraiture, its directness and unforgiving dialogue. “12 Bar Bridge: Rhythm In Portrait” showcases portraits of past and present masters of jazz music, a specific tip of the hat to his musical inspirations. A notable cornerstone of the work is that the character of line or mark found within each image that subtly translates his understanding and influence of each musicians’ specific aesthetic in sound.
A native Mississippian, Anderson received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from Mississippi State University in 1997 and his Master of Fine Arts degree in electronic visualization from Mississippi State University in 2002. For more than 12 years, he has professionally served in the roles of graphic designer, art director, videographer and web designer for various companies. He is currently an assistant professor within the graphic design program at Mississippi State University, where he teaches courses in web design and multimedia. In tandem with his efforts in art and design, Anderson has invested more than 17 years as a musician, performing nationally and internationally.
The Jackson County Campus Fine Arts Gallery is open and free to the public Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. For more information about the “12 Bar Bridge: Rhythm in Portrait” exhibition, contact Marc Poole at (228) 497-7684.
Artist Chad Anderson