Hello All! Sorry for not posting in a couple of months. I was seriously debating on whether or not to apply for grad schools for the fall of 2012. My only hitch? The portfolio/applications would be due in January. After seriously stressing and freaking out with trying to get five more pieces together in such little time, I figured that I might be rushing into this whole thing and decided to just apply for 2013. For the time being, I’m going to be checking out artist residency programs and shows to enter my work into, so if you beautiful readers (YES, that means YOU!) have any suggestions for me, please…by all means, let me know. I always love hearing from you!
So the Weatherspoon Art Museum’s show, Persona: A Body in Parts, ended on the 11th of this month. That’s right people…all good things must come to an end. For my readers out there who don’t live around here and/or didn’t get a chance to view it in person, the Weatherspoon has posted a few photos of the exhibition here.
I’m writing about another artist featured in Persona: A Body in Parts. Carter is an openly gay artist who is quite conceptual and multi-disciplinary with his medium choices. He kind of demands a bit of explanation and attention…soooo I’m dedicating this post solely to his work. I already gave a lengthy description of what the show was about last time around, so click here if y’all are interested in catching up. Anyway, let’s get started!
CARTER (born in US, 1970; lives and works in New York)
Yep, that’s right. He has no first name…or wait…no last name? I don’t know. He’s like Prince, ya know? Maybe he gives himself only one name in order to become just as ambiguous as his work or maybe, like Prince, he’s just pretentious. I have my speculations, but I’ll let you make the call on that one.
AMAZING QUOTE:
“You’re never really a solid representation of yourself at all times. You’re different shades of yourself during different times of the day and for each experience and person you interact with.” - Carter
Carter is one of those- hard to pin down, put in a box, or even define at all –kinds of artists. He is multi-disciplinary, ranging from 2D, 3D, to 4D work. He creates paintings, drawings, photography, and sculptures, has made video installations, directed a feature-length film, and is about to direct a second one.
The Weatherspoon Art Museum showcased his photography, sculpture, installations, and paintings. They even had a showing of his feature-length film, Erased: James Franco.
Not much information is out there for Carter. It wasn’t even until he released his first feature-length film that he showed the public his face. Before then, he wouldn’t even make his presence known when his work was being shown in various galleries/museums. Needless to say, there are no artist talks.
Carter’s artwork gained significant popularity in 2005, when curator Matthew Higgs selected him for a small show in White Columns (one of Manhattan’s premier alternative spaces). Soon after his work was showcased, he and his art were invited to the 2006 Whitney Biennial.
Even though the New York-based artist knows no bounds in choice of media, all of his work comes to a common ground: self-portraiture and the ambiguity of identity. Carter challenges traditional portraiture by presenting the viewer with what he likes to call “anonymous portraits.” When the artist was selected to show his work at the prestigious Whitney Biennial in 2006, a member of the staff wrote:
“Carter is interested in challenging notions of self-portraiture by making work that acts as a stand-in for an idea of someone. The subsequent second-generation rendering of a person who is already disguised compels us to question our own identity and the many devices we might use to conceal or transform it.”
Did you get all that? No? Did you miss it? It’s cool…even if you got it, I’m about to break it down medium by medium in as much of a nutshell as I can. So who’s ready to see some disembodied, artificial body parts? Okay okay, here goes!
PHOTOGRAPHY:
