Fern Shaffer and Othello Anderson
American, b. 1944 and unknown
American, b. 1936 Louisville, KY
Paraguayan American, b. 1994
William Mebane, American, b. 1972; Martin Hyers, American, b. 1964
Chinese, b. 1979 and 1980 Shanghai
BiographyFern Shaffer and Othello Anderson worked as a collaborative duo for nearly 30 years during which they created rituals and large paintings about the past and future of the environment. With these works, Shaffer and Anderson focused on themes around energetically healing the earth and the ways in which human imprint is deeply damaging nature. Shaffer is an artist, teacher and environmental advocate with an Interdisciplinary Arts MA from Columbia College Chicago (1991) who makes work from the position of a feminist, spiritualist, and activist. Othello Anderson is an artist and educator who has taught at the University of Illinois and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Anderson was the president and a founding member of N.A.M.E Gallery, Chicago’s first unconventional artist-run space to exhibit experimental and international artists.