Keith Anderson

WHAT BECOMES OF A BROKEN HEART

March 13 - April 18, 2010

Number 35 is pleased to present works from New York-based artist Keith O. Anderson. This is his first exhibition with the gallery.

The Dadaists understood the elements of change and chance to be influential to the creation of an artwork. Anderson's work cradles the idea of chance in that he finds his inspiration and materials walking along the street in discarded boards, chairs and broken records. To these items, he adds his own untameable element: fire.

Either ignited or dormant, the flammable aspect of Anderson's work plays into its understanding. In This Side of the Bed is Occupied (2002), a stray piece of wood is surrounded entirely by matchsticks and glue, the sticks decapitated and therefore robbed of their only function. The heads are found in A Prayer Cloth (2009), where they are glued to a piece of canvas soaked with linseed oil. The two components lay side by side without igniting.

Anderson also draws his aesthetic from after the alchemic reaction has occurred. In Pour Robert Filliou (2010), the matchsticks appear again, this time as spent objects strung together to resemble an explosive, ammunition, or a chain reaction. Autoportrait (2009), reveals golden raisins adhered to the inside of an old shirt, their shriveled remains representing the artist himself, or more poignantly, a dream deferred.

Number 35 is located at 39 Essex Street between Grand and Hester in the Lower East Side. Gallery hours are Wednesday - Sunday, 12 - 6 pm and by appointment. For more information, please contact Cindy Rucker at 212-388-9311 or cindy@numberthirtyfive.com.