Artist Review

Artist John A. Anderson, known as Dr. Anderson to many, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His “day job” included Doctoral coordinator and director of programs at IUP, instructing advanced statistics, and researching transportation technology, homeland security, policy, and best-practices training for public and private organizations. He has since retired and become a full-time artist.

I met him while working on my PhD in Administration and Leadership at IUP, and he took a keen interest in my dissertation, a quantitative analysis of the relationship between art schools, gallery representation, collections, socioeconomic status, and gender in the US. It was at this point that I learned he was also an artist.

In his current paintings, Dr. Anderson explores the landscape with a nod to Edward Hopper through his use of light and color. Dr. Anderson’s attention to detail, a necessity as a statistician, translates beautifully into his drawings of animals. His pet portraits use subtle color, and spectacular detail to capture all the elements that make the images palpably tactile. This can be seen in the way the delicate whiskers are rendered, or through the meticulously depicted textures of fur. He captures not only the likeness, but the essence of what makes the pets unique. I very much look forward to seeing where his new career in art will take him.