In the early 1980's I was making wood sculpture. I was also making large
drawings and prints. At this time I never thought of clay as a serious sculptural
material. Something in me was curious about what would happen if I made a
plaster mold of a freshly caught fish, not unlike the Japanese fish printing
process where a fish is rolled onto a soft paper. My intent was to force clay
into a mold, creating a clay positive in relief. In 1988 I made my first ceramic
fish by creating a mold from a large blue fish that I had caught. I was soon
making various molds of different fish and experimenting with color and glazing
techniques. I was educating myself to learn glaze formulations to give me
the effect I wanted. I showed these pieces singularly on the wall.
It was at this time that I became aware of traditional Portuguese crab and
lobster plates, which I saw at Friends Market in Providence, RI. I thought
these were wonderful images, a single crustacean mounted on a plate with various
sea elements mixed in. I began to visit museums to search their decorative
arts collections, curious about what else might be out there. It was in these
collections I discovered Bernard Palissy and Palissyware. Palissy was a French
artist from the 15th century who made ceramic plates embellished with creatures
from the forest. Palissyware is a name given to work that is made in the tradition
of Bernard Palissy. To this day, he is revered as an important artist that
employed clay as a medium. It was here I found a place to begin my work.
I began to build a collection of various molds taken from nature and started
building compositions on a clay background, that reminded me of landscape
or things that I had seen while walking. These felt more fulfilling and opened
up possibilities of expressing complex ideas compared to the singular fish.
While employing molds in creating my work, I don't rely on them exclusively.
I enjoy handling the clay, creating forms with my hands, carving the clay.
It is important to me to touch the clay in all its stages, while it's wet,
while it's leather hard and while it's dry. In the end, what I've found in
the clay and the color achieved through glaze is an ability to create a small,
but highly charged object.
Ben Anderson 67 Sowams Road Barrington, RI 02806 401-338-0224 ben@benranderson.com
Education
1992 MFA University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
1984 BFA Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Teaching Experience
2007 Assistant Professor, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
1995-present Visiting Lecturer, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2001-present Visiting Lecturer, Bryant College, Smithfield, RI
2005 Visiting Lecturer, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI
1995-1996 Visiting Faculty, Brown University, Providence, RI
1994, 97, 98 Visiting Faculty, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA
Solo Exhibitions
2008 “Ben Anderson Ceramic Sculpture” Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI
2006 “New Work No Deeper Than Three and Three Quarters & Phil an Dona’s Eastern Red Cedar” Corridor Gallery, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
2004 “Creeks and Hollows” Vessel Gallery, Huntingdon Valley, PA
2003 “In Relief” Corridor Gallery, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
“Ben Anderson” RISD/WORKS, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2001 “Ben Anderson Ceramics” Cadeaux du Monde, Newport, RI
2000 “Ben Anderson Relief’s” Corridor Gallery, University of Rhode Island, RI
“Weighted Spaces” Arts College International, San Diego, CA
1999 “In the Garden” Cadeaux du Monde, Newport, RI
1997 “Five Spaces” Simayspace, San Diego, CA
“New Work” Wheeler Gallery, Providence, RI
1996 “Turtle Walk” University of Rhode Island Main Gallery, Kingston, RI
“Chinks & Whelks” Simayspace, San Diego, CA
1993 “Inaugural Exhibition” Simayspace, San Diego, CA
1992 “A Balance is Something” Installation, The Boehm Gallery, Palomar College,
San Marcos, CA
1991 “In the Woods” Installation Mandeville Annex Gallery, UCSD, La Jolla, CA
1990 “In Landscape” Installation, Mandeville Annex Gallery, UCSD, La Jolla, CA
1989 “Signs of Nature” collaboration with Michael Lamar, The Works Gallery,
Philadelphia, PA.
1986 Installation and Drawings” Gallery One, Providence, RI
Selected Group Exhibitions
2009 Hybrid ll University of Rhode Island Faculty Show, Main Gallery University of Rhode Island, Kingston RI
GreenWorks Exhibition Providence, Art Club, Providence RI
Three Providence Artists Ben Anderson, Elizabeth Pannell, And James Watkins,
Jessie Edwards Gallery, Block Island, RI
2008 “State of the Arts in RI” URI Feinstein Providence Campus, Providence, RI
“Going to the Dogs” RISD Museum, Providence, RI
“Summer Group Show” Jessie Edwards Gallery, Block Island. RI
2007 “URI Art Faculty Show” Main Gallery Fine Art Center, Kingston, RI
Guest curator and participant in “Warren Walkabout 30 Cutler Street Artists” Cutler Street Gallery, Warren, RI
RISD Summer Faculty Woods Gerry Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2006 “Ben Anderson/Neil Anderson” Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI
“Athenaeum’s Benefit Art Auction Show” Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, CA
2005 “Rhode Island Sculptors” Fine Furnishing Show, Convention Ctr, Providence, RI
2004 “3-D Rhode Island Selections of Contemporary Sculpture” Newport Art
Museum, Newport, RI
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
2003 “Ben Anderson/Terry Rose” Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI
“Five Rhode Island Artists” South County Art Association, Kingston RI
2002 “Small Works Show” RISD/WORKS, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
“Ben Anderson/Mara Metcalf” Mount Ida College, Newton, MA
“Summer Faculty” Woods Gerry Gallery, RISD, Providence, RI
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
2001 “Ben Anderson/Mara Metcalf” Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
2000 “Food in the Library: A Visual Feast” Athenaeum Music & Arts Library,
La Jolla, CA
“Group Show” Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
1999 “Emerging Artist” Mandeville Gallery, UCSD, San Diego, CA
Woods Gerry Gallery, RISD, Providence, RI
1998 “Rhode Island Sculptors“ South County Art Association, Kingston, RI
1997 “Group Show” Bryan Ohno Gallery, Seattle, WA
1995 Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI
“CIC Artists Past & Present” Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA
1993 “Clay 1993, a National Survey” William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA’’
“Off the Wall” Porter Randall Gallery, La Jolla, CA
1992 The Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
1991 “Artists New to the Gallery” Virginia Lynch Gallery, Tiverton, RI
“Group Show” Mandeville Annex Gallery, UCSD, La Jolla, CA
1989 “Three Artists” Gallery One, Providence, RI
1988 “Providence Artists” Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA
Awards
2005 Directors Choice Award, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA
2002 Rhode Island State Council for the Arts, Individual Artist Grant, Providence, RI
1999 National Award in Clay, The Byers Choice Award, Excellence in Ceramics,
Philadelphia, PA
1992 California Works, Award of Excellence, Sacramento, CA
Residencies
2009 The Britt Nelson Artist-in-Residence, “Inspired by Nature” The Gordon School, East Providence, RI
Bibliography
2006 “School House Art” Eric Roth, Boston Globe Magazine 01/22/06
“Crafts at the Castle 20th Anniversary Artists awards” Family Matters news from Family Services of Greater Boston, Jamaica Plain, MA
2004 “Walkabout Showcases Town” Denise Kinney, Warren Times, October 20,
Warren, RI
2003 “A Respite From Shock” Bill Van Siclen, Providence Journal, February 6-9, Providence, RI
“Corridor Gallery Pitches ‘In Relief’’ South County Independent March 13, Narragansett, RI
“What a Relief” David Brensilver, The Westerly Sun, March 13, Westerly, RI
“30 Cutler Street Open House”, Lisa Harrison, Rhode Island Monthly, October
Providence, RI
“Students Drawn to Bryant/RISD Offering”, Bryant Exchange, February, Smithfield, RI
“Bryant/RISD Collaborative Program Taps Bryant’s Creative Side” Bryant Business, Spring, Smithfield, RI
“Drawing On Your Creative Side” Bryant Up Close, Spring, Smithfield, RI
“this month” photograph, Rhode Island Monthly, Oct, volume 16
2001 “Cutler Mill Building” Faye Zuckerman Providence Journal, November 4, Providence RI
“Gallery to Feature Ceramics Master”, Newport Daily News, September 28,
Newport, RI
2000 “Athenaeum Spreads a Feast” Dawna Bratten, Arts and Entertainment, Village,
News, May 31, La Jolla, CA
“Now Being Served” Robert L. Pincus, San Diego Tribune, June 1, San Diego, CA
“Professor Dazzles Outside of the Classroom with Portrayal of Nature” Kathryn
MacDonald, The Good 5 Cent Cigar, March 9, Kingston, RI
1999 “Motley Crew” Robert L. Pincus, San Diego Tribune, May 13, San Diego, CA
1997 “Ben Anderson at Simayspace” Leah Ollman, Art in America, January 1998, New
York, NY
“Installation Piece Explores Mother Nature’s Textures” Bill Van Siclen, Providence Journal, July 5, Providence. RI
1995 “The Gallery Scene Will Be Humming This Weekend” Bill Van Siclen, Providence
Journal, November 10, Providence, RI
1993 “Emerging Artists Get Home Next Door” Robert L. Pincus, San Diego Tribune,
November 25, San Diego, CA
1992 “Explorations of Our Worth in the World” Robert L. Pincus, San Diego Tribune,
September 17, San Diego, CA
“Boehm Shows: Shallow, Deep” Leah Ollman, Los Angeles Times,
September 9, Los Angeles, CA
“Boehm Exhibition is One to Count On” William Fark, Times Advocate, August 28, Escondido, CA
1989 “Call of the Mild Signs of Nature Beckons Simply” Fran Middendorf
The Newpaper, June 29, Providence, RI
1989 “Art Wrap Up” Signs of Life Gets Green Light” Bill Van Siclen, Providence Journal, June 30, Providence, RI
“Extraordinary People” RISD Views, September, Providence, RI
1985 “The Sincerest Form of Flattery” Thomas Fisher, Progressive Architecture,
November, New York, NY
Collections
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Private Collection of Susan Dryfoos, New York Times, NY
Private Collection of Philip M. Johnston, Director of Santa Barbara Art Museum, CA
Private Collection of Roger Mandle, President of Rhode Island School of Design, RI
Private Collection of Malcolm Rogers, Director of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Private Collection of Peggy Sharpe, RI Collector
Private Collection of Rod Stewart, Musician