John Christian Anderson grew up in a working class neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. At an early age he visited Simon Rhodias's Watts Towers, which was not far from his home. It was an astonishing site as there was nothing like it anywhere else in the neighborhood. Overtime these towers represented symbols of pure artistic vision, independence, and the down-to-earth attitude of using whatever materials are available. Later as a young student he traveled and sought out other artists and craftsmen working outside the mainstream. Over the years his work has integrated Indian and Buddhist sand painting, Fluxus objects, Minimalism, Funk Art, Bricolage and Assemblage. For over forty years he has been incorporating found material and exploring traditional and non-traditional techniques for constructing his sculptures.
Anderson has exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States. These include the Robert Freidus Gallery in New York (solo), the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, the ICA Boston, The DeCordova Museum, The Delaware Center for Contemporary Art (solo). Recently his work was included in an exhibition at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Boston Sculptors Gallery (solo). He has received numerous awards including three individual Artist Resource Trust Grants and a more recent Traveling Scholarship to study counterfeit objects in Paris. His work is included in both public and private collections. This past Fall he was commissioned by the Fuller Craft Museum to create a sculpture in response to the opioid epidemic that has ravaged communities throughout the Northeast. The exhibition, Human Impact:Stories From The Opioid Epidemic, runs from September 28 through May 3 traveling to Boston City Hall in June, 2020.