BROOKINGS – The Brookings Arts Council will exhibit the artwork of PJ Anderson. His latest photography exhibit, “#JunkOnPavement,” will be in the main gallery and runs from June 26 through July 19.
The artist, a Watertown photographer, describes his most recent series as a product of “angry photography” exploring nature in a new provocative way, much different than his previous work.
Throughout his artistic career he has “focused a great deal of energy capturing the beauty of nature.”
His typical imagery as an artist and image maker differs greatly from the images displayed in his show. The shift in intention took place with his interest in audience engagement and the desire to push his creativity down a different path.
It all began with a brightly colored Skittle laying in a parking lot. With the attention this photography got, he began photographing litter and other misplaced items in nature, later posting them to social media with sarcastic or snarky titles and tagging them with #JunkOnPavement. The response led him to continue the project, he set up some artistic parameters, making sure that all the objects were on pavement and were photographed how they were found, free of manipulation or staging.
To see and learn more, the Brookings Arts Council invites the public to an artist’s reception from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday. Light refreshments will be served, with an artist’s talk to begin around 5 p.m.
There is no admission charge. The Brookings Arts Council is open noon-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information, call 692-4177 or email artscouncil@brookings.net.
