Acclaimed local artist addresses domestic violence in timely exhibition
INTERNATIONALLY recognized photorealistic artist Guyanese Carl Anderson has unveiled the first-ever series of paintings on Domestic Violence in the ‘Ancient County’, to coincide with the ‘Break your silence and become a survivor’ workshop sequence. The first showing was held at the University of Guyana’s Tain Campus at Port Mourant, Corentyne prior to the exhibition being taken to locations on the Upper Corentyne, in East Canje, and on the East Bank Berbice.
The artwork, depicting the different faces of violence, was initially a challenge for the artist, who described the feature as being ‘out of his realm’, as he had ‘preferred to work with pictures reflecting joy and fun’.
“But, three years ago, Dianne Madray, Chief Operations Officer of the Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness, approached me and requested help for the project. I don’t like painting depicting violence on canvas; however, I was persuaded, and from 2011, I started to work on the series.”
The forty-eight-year-old Anderson recalled that he was more motivated when he saw his friend ‘Tiffany’ becoming a victim of domestic violence.
“I was touched; that really moved me to this level, to do these paintings.”
His ten-piece paintings are dubbed, ‘Woman in the mirror’, ‘All about power and control’, ‘Reflection of a dying soul’, ‘Moving beyond social expectations’, ‘Silence hurts’, ‘Many voices one cause’, and ‘Unspeakable Love’, amongst others.
Speaking at the Tain campus of the University of Guyana in recounting how it all began, Anderson said his mother told him repeatedly that he would scratch the walls of their house when he was just aged five.
He further explained that his natural gifts were improved following the intervention of his neighbour, Rodwell Singh, who had called him to his bottom house workshop.
Anderson, was nine years old when his talent with the brush was recognised by his neighbour in Bent Street, Georgetown, a devoted admirer from his window upstairs, where he painted many pieces.
Anderson’s relationship with his mentor did not last long, as Singh died suddenly, leaving the aspiring artist ‘out in the cold’, having  no one to guide him in the field of art.
Being despondent at times, but yet hopeful that his dream can be realized, he embraced  education, enrolling in an Adult Education Class, where he encountered  fellow artist Stanley Greaves,  who taught him the fundamentals in art, water colours and drawings.
I subsequently enrolled at the Burrowes School of Art, which is the pinnacle of artistic training locally.
Anderson recalled the school as it was then: “Dennis Williams was the Principal and his forte was Human Anatomy and Methods of Painting; Keith Agard specialised in Two-dimensional Design, Drawing and Painting (the studies of colours and lights); Philip Moore was responsible for Sculpture and, on a more personal level, Spiritualism; Stanley Greaves taught the History of Art and the Basics of Sculpture I and II; Colin Carto was next, lecturing in Textile Designing; George Simmons was Block Printing and Drawing;  Emmerson Samuels’s forte was Graphics; and last, Ms. Sarah Worrel – Painting and Drawing.
“During my third year, after much consideration, I decided to leave the institution. There was this tug-0′-war being inculcated in me by the two well-meaning teachers. Maybe they had their own personal problems as regards artistic beliefs, but they couldn’t keep it to themselves, and it was beginning to hurt me. When I left Burrowes School of Art, I was just 17 years of age.
‘Two years later, I migrated to Venezuela, where I lived for some 13 years and was exposed to the huge, varied Latin American art factory. I quickly saw I had to improve tremendously to make it. Two years after that realisation, I did my first one-man show, which comprised some 30 pieces of exhibit. I sold 24, so I can say that the show was a huge success. But already I was experimenting with new mediums which I found were challenging, and the 1980 National Exhibition of Visual Arts can attest to my occupation with new mediums. My entry then was a cow skin painting called ‘Survival’ which was based upon the Rastafarian cult and its dependence upon herbs.
Anderson’s artistic journey to other parts of the world grabbed international attention, as he participated in, and won, first prize for painting in the 4th Edition of the International Art Biennial of Malta, in 2001. The previous year, he won the second prize for painting and a Diploma di merito at the International Grolla d’ Oro in Italy.  In addition, he participated in several one-man and group shows across Europe and the Mediterranean, Latin and South America, and the United States in venues including Cairo’s National Museum of Modern Art, Guyana’s National Art Gallery, and the Malta International Art Biennial.
One of his most successful and commanding sets of work is called “The Ribbon Series”, the bold geometric forms of which generate energy through vivid colour and pulsating patterns.
But the Ribbon Series was not the limit for Anderson, who has been behind the brush for thirty-five years. He has since developed reproduction to a fine finish, and called it “photo-realism”, which became highly influential in the second half of the 20th century, especially in the USA. Among its principal exponents were British born artist Malcolm Morley and his American counterpart Richard Estes.
Anderson’s labour of love on the canvas forces him to spend approximately fifteen hours a day in his studio. His portrait of American President Barak Obama is testimony to his painstaking efforts.
While he is currently working on a carnival series, Anderson is particularly inspired by the World renowned Michelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci.