Tobey C. Anderson, Visual Artist
Tobey is an independent artist living in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. Born June 2,1946 in Washington, D.C., he grew up and was educated in the Midwest of the United States, and in 1969 immigrated to Canada where he became a dual citizen in 1975. Tobey has been producing and exhibiting artwork professionally since 1969 and is represented in numerous private and public collections internationally. In 2006 he initiated the CRAM Collective and Canada's smallest art gallery in a heritage venue in downtown St. Catharines, the centre of the Niagara Region, Canada. CRAM International promotes cultural exchanges and investment in contemporary art.
Since deciding to concentrate on painting as my medium of choice in the late 1970's, I have been working with appropriated images and abstraction. My source materials often come from the media and my everyday life, art and history references, and the Internet. Symbolism, spirituality, humour, local life, and metaphor are primary elements in my work, as is my passion for fishing.
In 2007-2008 Anderson was the recipient of an Ontario Arts Council Mid-Career Visual Artist Grant for his New American Century Project and in 2011-2012 he was awarded an Ontario Arts Council International Residency for research and cultural exchange in Santiago de Cuba.
The New American Century Project title is a play on "Project For The New American Century", a Washington, D.C. Think Tank. From 2004-2011 Anderson produced a series of responses to the American-led "War On Terror", paticularly the wars on two fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan. KIA_CA_Afghanistan is a memorialization of the Fallen Canadian War Heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country. As chronicles of war, the 72 Portraits of the New American Century Trilogy: K_IA, Foreign Terrorists, and Collateral Damage place terrorists, fallen soldiers from Iowa, and innocent civilians on the same plane for examination and consideration. Elements of The New American Century Project have been exhibited in Canada, Cuba, and the USA.
A CBC Radio One interview of Tobey C. Anderson on Q with Gian Ghamesi on September 7th about his DU Babies exhibition at CRAM and his New American Century Project was not aired in the Metro Toronto listening area (Niagara to Kingston) due to programming that features Torontocentric news like the traffic report, local events, and weather. The rest of Canada and the world heard Anderson live via satellite, on Podcast and Radio One at regular broadcast times, but Anderson's interview in the second half of Q was blocked out of the largest art market in Canada.
Following an interview of David Cronenberg, Anderson responsponded to Ghamesi's questions about the affects of depleted uranium on war zone civilians, infants and adults both in Iraq and the returning troops who have been exposed to DU radiation. This interview is now available on-line.
In 2009, with Alan Flint and José Medina, Anderson initiated CRAM Press, Niagara's professional print workshop.
He recently created a new body of work: Meditations on the Apocalypse. The first four paintings produced were exhibited in a 2 person exhibition with his life partner, Carolyn Wren, in The Lion & The Lamb at Galeria Universal in Santiago de Cuba, March-April 2011. In Dec 2011 - Jan 2012 Anderson returned to Santiago de Cuba for a six-week residency funded by the Ontario Arts Council National and International Artist Residency Program.
Catalogue of 2010 retrospective: Tobey C. Anderson: 33 Years of Painting / ISBN 978-0-9864955-6-4 / Rodman Hall Art Centre - Brock University 2012
Since deciding to concentrate on painting as my medium of choice in the late 1970's, I have been working with appropriated images and abstraction. My source materials often come from the media and my everyday life, art and history references, and the Internet. Symbolism, spirituality, humour, local life, and metaphor are primary elements in my work, as is my passion for fishing.
In 2007-2008 Anderson was the recipient of an Ontario Arts Council Mid-Career Visual Artist Grant for his New American Century Project and in 2011-2012 he was awarded an Ontario Arts Council International Residency for research and cultural exchange in Santiago de Cuba.
The New American Century Project title is a play on "Project For The New American Century", a Washington, D.C. Think Tank. From 2004-2011 Anderson produced a series of responses to the American-led "War On Terror", paticularly the wars on two fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan. KIA_CA_Afghanistan is a memorialization of the Fallen Canadian War Heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country. As chronicles of war, the 72 Portraits of the New American Century Trilogy: K_IA, Foreign Terrorists, and Collateral Damage place terrorists, fallen soldiers from Iowa, and innocent civilians on the same plane for examination and consideration. Elements of The New American Century Project have been exhibited in Canada, Cuba, and the USA.
A CBC Radio One interview of Tobey C. Anderson on Q with Gian Ghamesi on September 7th about his DU Babies exhibition at CRAM and his New American Century Project was not aired in the Metro Toronto listening area (Niagara to Kingston) due to programming that features Torontocentric news like the traffic report, local events, and weather. The rest of Canada and the world heard Anderson live via satellite, on Podcast and Radio One at regular broadcast times, but Anderson's interview in the second half of Q was blocked out of the largest art market in Canada.
Following an interview of David Cronenberg, Anderson responsponded to Ghamesi's questions about the affects of depleted uranium on war zone civilians, infants and adults both in Iraq and the returning troops who have been exposed to DU radiation. This interview is now available on-line.
In 2009, with Alan Flint and José Medina, Anderson initiated CRAM Press, Niagara's professional print workshop.
He recently created a new body of work: Meditations on the Apocalypse. The first four paintings produced were exhibited in a 2 person exhibition with his life partner, Carolyn Wren, in The Lion & The Lamb at Galeria Universal in Santiago de Cuba, March-April 2011. In Dec 2011 - Jan 2012 Anderson returned to Santiago de Cuba for a six-week residency funded by the Ontario Arts Council National and International Artist Residency Program.
Catalogue of 2010 retrospective: Tobey C. Anderson: 33 Years of Painting / ISBN 978-0-9864955-6-4 / Rodman Hall Art Centre - Brock University 2012
