About the Artist

Jim Anderson is a multi-media artist based in London. After a foundation course in Cambridge, He studied English and American Literature at Oxford University, followed by printmaking at London's Central St. Martin's School of Art. In 1995 he was elected a member of The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, with whom he exhibits annually.

He works with a wide variety of different techniques; and use of found or recycled materials is paramount. Most of his prints and paintings feature handmade, recycled paper and scrap materials somewhere along the way - thus introducing into the equation elements of cookery and alchemy.

He combines social satire and surrealism, and is influenced by sources as diverse as the Bible, the Beano, and the Kama Sutra. Favourite artists - for no particular reasons - include Andrew Logan, Paul Klee, Morris Hirschfield, and Scottie Wilson. Collectors of his work include actors, musicians, MPs, and peers of the realm; as well as nurses, teachers, and the long-term unemployable.

Since 1991 he has exhibited his work in the U.K. and abroad, and has been awarded three major prizes in national exhibitions. In 1997 he founded - with Michael Sims and Christian Pattison - The Illustrated Ape magazine. In 2000 his book Handmade Prints (co-written with artist Anne Desmet) was published by A.& C. Black.

Since visiting San Francisco in 1997 he has become increasingly interested in public art; and has worked in this country and abroad on various large-scale mosaic projects - the most ambitious of which so far was 2002's series of murals at Gertrude's Garden Children's Hospital in Nairobi. Various mosaics can be seen in London, mostly in the Camden Town area. More information about this side of Jim Anderson's work can be found online at www.kenya-mosaic.com.

He was recently - under the pseudonym The Reverend Jeremiah Hobb - a member of the now-defunct rock band Ju Ju Babies, with whom his duties included playing the theremin, designing banners and T-shirts, making sandwiches, and occasional vocals.

Work by Jim Anderson can be seen at the Bankside Gallery and at Insidespace.

Education

1983-84
Cambridge College of Arts and Technology; Art Foundation Course.

1984-87
Worcester College, Oxford University; B.A in English and American Literature.

1989-1990
Central St. Martin's School of Art; Advanced Printmaking Course

Awards

1990
Grove Prize at Portobello Open Exhibition

1993
Under-30 Prize at Eastern Open Exhibition (awarded by Sister Wendy Becket)

1994
Whatman Prize at National Print Exhibition

Societies

1994
Elected member of Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (R.E)
Served as fund-raising steward for Artists' General Benevolent Institution

Publications

1991-1995
Art correspondent for The Church Times

1997-present
Co-founder of, and contributor to, The Illustrated Ape magazine

1998-present
Regular contributor to Printmaking Today magazine

2000
Handmade Prints (co-authored with Anne Desmet) - a book of low-budget printmaking techniques - published by A. & C. Black

Residencies

1991-92
Artist-in-residence at Friends' School, Saffron Walden. Helped launch Saffron Walden Arts week.

1997
Residency at 14th Street Print Workshop, San Francisco, U.S.A.

1999
Artist-in-residence for Cywaith Cymru (Artworks Wales), based at Bush School, Pembroke Dock, Wales

2001
Residency at Fundacion Valparaiso, Almeria, Spain

2002
Artist-in-residence at Brent Artists' Register, London

Exhibtions (1995-present)

1995
8-person show, Woodgates Gallery (East Bergholt, Suffolk, U.K)
Mixed show, Die Wasserturm (Vienna, Austria)
Handmade by Humanoids; solo show, Octopus Gallery (Saffron Walden, U.K)

1996
National Print Exhibition; Mall Galleries (London, U.K)
R.E. members show; Bankside Gallery (London, U.K)
Solo show; Waterstones Gallery (Cambridge, U.K)
Exposition d'art Europeen; mixed show, Cave Poesie (Toulouse, France)
2-person show with Ann Edmonds, Octopus Gallery (Saffron Walden, U.K)
Mixed show, Whiteleys Gallery (London, U.K)

1997
National Print Exhibition; Mall Galleries (London, U.K)
Printmaker of the month; Leicester City Gallery (Leicester, U.K)
R.E. Members show; Bankside Gallery (London, U.K) The Elements, solo show; Phoenix Arts Centre (Leicester, U.K)
Solo show, Octopus Gallery (Saffron Walden, U.K)

1998
National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries (London, U.K)
R.E. Members show, Bankside Gallery (London, U.K)
A picnic in the jungle; 5-person show, Octopus Gallery (Saffron Walden, U.K) Soup of the day, solo show, First Edition (London, U.K)

1999
National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries (London, U.K)
Open Exhibition of the Art of the Imagination, Mall Galleries, (London, U.K) These pictures are inedible; solo show, Salt House Gallery (London, U.K)
R.E. Members show; Bankside Gallery (London, U.K)
All on the Wharf; group show,Trinity Buoy Wharf Gallery (London, U.K) Manhattan Graphics exchange; mixed show, National Arts Club, Gramercy Park
(New York City, U.S.A) Myths and Mayhem; Pembroke Dock Library Gallery (Pembroke Dock, Wales, U.K)

2000
National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries (London, U.K)
Indian Exchange; R.E. Members show, Bankside Gallery (London, U.K)
Shrewsbury Visual Arts Festival, various venues (Shrewsbury, U.K)

2001
National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries (London, U.K)
R.E. Members show, Bankside Gallery (London, U.K)
Printfest (Ulverston, U.K)
High Societies, Pam Schomberg Gallery (Colchester, U.K)
Dirty Fingernails and co., solo show, Changing Room Gallery (London, U.K)

2002
National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries (London, U.K)
R.E. Members show, Bankside Gallery (London, U.K)
PrintFest (Ulverston, U.K)
Artspace, Barn Galleries (Henley-on-Thames, U.K)
Different ways of looking taller (and other tall tales), solo show, Willesden Green
Library Gallery (Willesden, London)

2003
National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries (London UK)
Manchester Art Fair, Urbis (Manchester, U.K)
R.E. Members' show, Bankside Gallery (London, U.K)
Solo show, The Thread Gallery (Cambridge, U.K)
Battersea Arts Fair, BAC (London, U.K)
Christmas Exhibition, Gallery Kaleidoscope (London, U.K)

Mosaic Commissions

(for more information visit www.kenya-mosaic.com)

1998
Somers Town mosaic project (Chalton St., Somers Town, London, U.K)

2000
Camden mosaic project (Everton Buildings, Camden, London, U.K)

2000-2001
Gospel Oak mosaic project (Lawn Rd., Gospel Oak, London, U.K)
Shortlisted for Camden Design Award

2002
Ashdon School mosaic project (Ashdon, Cambridgeshire, U. K)
Gertrude's Garden Children's Hospital mosaic project (Muthaiga, Nairobi, Kenya).
In Collaboration with Juhudi Children's Club.

2002-2003
Harlesden mosaic project (Leopold Road, Harlesden, London, U.K)

2003
The London Hospital mosaic project (The London Hospital, Whitechapel, London, U.K). In collaboration with Vital Arts and Juhudi Children's Club.
Peter's Place mosaic project (Peter's Place, Berwyn, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A)