IDENTITY
Opening Reception
Friday, APRIL 1, 2022
7:00 - 10:00 PM
free and open to the public
Exhibition runs through may 6, 2022
Kai Lin Art is pleased to announce IDENTITY: A Larry Jens Anderson Commemorative Exhibition from April 1st through May 6th, 2022 in our Grey Gallery.
We are pleased to present this commemorative exhibition featuring 25 artworks from Larry Jens Anderson, teacher, mentor, and friend.
From his series of All Dick no Jane, featuring elegantly rendered drawings of the classic icon Dick of Dick & Jane, which Larry recontexualizes into a representation of a gay boy in a contemporary setting, to art exploring the meaning of home and the history, shared life journeys and the love and loss that is found under one roof; from delicately deft ink and watercolor line work in Larry’s representation of himself in his piece Learning to Fall, to the whimsy, painterly and seemingly abstract colorfield strokes of thick, gestural pigments that can only be appreciated once the viewer zooms out to realize the moments of veiled painted plumes representing one of Larry’s favorite animals he would visit throughout his career, the pensively grazing cow; from the painted bouquet of wild and seemingly unkept flowers that Larry collected from his garden completed on June 12th, 2016 (the day 50 young gay people were killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL) which he used red paint to convey the loss and extreme grief that had befallen our nation and the LGBTQI community, to a collaged piece entitled The Twins, a diptych created through charcoal, thread, graphite and gold leaf meant to symbolize Larry and his twin brother Terry who had passed in the 1990s from complications with HIV.
This broad and extensive exhibition reflects the life and legacy and lessons of Larry and his ability to capture moments from all that he saw, all that he experienced: the laughter, the loss, the love, the lessons that were imparted through his hands onto the surface of the canvas.
We are so very grateful to have Hank Thomas, Larry’s husband and partner for over 38 years be with us for the opening of this exhibition:
“Welcome to everyone. I was very fortunate to have had 38+ years with Larry. He was a very unique person and I loved him very much. He took his career as a teacher and artist very seriously and felt everyone could benefit from some education of art and art history as it pertains to everyone and affects their life whether they knew it or not. He and I had numerous discussions on what was art and what was not but we always enjoyed our discussions and I always walked away changing my mind. Most of the time. He was a dedicated teacher and loved teaching and finding new talent and the energy of the students. He was always a student and was always learning too.
I hope everyone enjoys the show and I am sure his spirit will be among us. Thank you for coming.
PS We all miss you Larry.”
Hank Thomas
Our FANTASTICAL exhibition will be featured in our main gallery in tandem with IDENTITY. We hope you’ll join us for this commemorative show.