JAMES CARTER – Port Chester, New York 1948 -
An established
American artist, James Carterīs paintings and graphic prints are best known for their capacity to invite the viewer to re-examine
familiarity of common objects.
His move to
Berlin, Germany with his family from 1962 to 1976, influenced his early interaction with the DADA movement. The collages of
Max Ernst and the soft endless landscapes of Yves Tanguy intrigued him; and his own early paintings were explorations of these
elements.
He initially
studied architectural rendering and, after returning to the U.S. in 1967, he embarked upon an architectural career. Soon,
however, he found himself rebelling against the strict rules of this trade; he felt there had to be a synthesis between drafting
and painting.
In 1970, he
enrolled in the Sivermine College of Art, NY and received an A.F.A. in 1970.
During the
1970's, James Carter was Art Director of Warlock Graphic and Jack Keller Designs, both in New York City.
While in New
York, he first experienced the works of Paul Wunderlich and Peter Paul. Their graphics and oils became the impetus to his
full-time devotion to painting.
While attending the Maryland Institute
of Art, where he received his B.F.A., he began to use the airbrush as a vehicle to achieve the translucent surface he had
been seeking. Still using drafting techniques, and utilizing a state-set environment, he began to incorporate both inanimate
objects with land and sea wildlife as subjects in surreal compositions. While
focusing on endangered species, such as the buffalo and the whale, his work took on a more political overtone.
In recent
years, his art has become a means to explore the diverse relationships between the objects and the surfaces, using the tromp
l'oeil effect to achieve luminous qualities of depth and space.
The still
lives of James Carter impel us to re-examine the familiar. His carefully orchestrated subjects are sensitive voyages into
the interior of a questioning consciousness.
The recipient
of dozens of awards and honors since 1978, James Carter has exhibited widely, including one-man shows in Washington, D.C.,
New York City, and Los Angeles, California. His works are also included in major corporate and municipal collections, including:
Christian Dior, Inc., New York, NY; The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut; the City of Miami, Florida; Yale University,
New Haven, Connecticut and United Jersey Banks, Princeton, New Jersey.
