For Arthur Carter (b 1931), a celebrated artist in the Modernist tradition, his passion for creating sculptures, drawings and paintings is the fourth act in a legendary professional career (following success on Wall Street as an entrepreneur and as the publisher and founder of two newspapers).
While his career track may have shifted and evolved, as have his artistic media, one constant throughout the past several decades has remained: his longstanding commitment to New York University. Therefore, it is fitting that approximately 95 of his works will be shown at NYU;s fine arts museum, the Grey Art Gallery, from April 16 to 29, as a benefit exhibition for the museum. Works to be shown include more than 50 sculptures and more than 40 drawings, some of which will be loaned from private collectors.
Featured works in the exhibition will include “Octacube,” 1996. This silver and copper sculpture is one of the artist’s earlier works and embodies his mathematical thinking _†a natural talent that plays as important a role in his studio as it did in his business careers _†at its most literal; it uses strict geometric cubes and angles in its design.
Another highlight of the exhibition is “Continuous Elliptical Loops,” 2005. This sanded stainless steel sculpture is one in a series of the same title that demonstrates an endless legato effect that arises from the way the works cycle along orbits that have multiple focal points rather than fixed centers. Tracing the loops reveals that some are double structures and some are single continuous lines.
The ellipse is a significant, yet often overlooked, formal premise used by many contemporary artists and architects, including Carter, Robert Mangold, Richard Serra, Bemard Venet, Santiago Calatava and Jean Nouvel.
“Intersecting Ellipses with Parallel Chords,” 2003, is another stainless steel sculpture that will be featured in the exhibition. Launching in a multidimensional labyrinth of considerable complexity from the simple, open interplav of one or two arcs and chords, this dramatically intricate piece depends on strict, isomorphic discipline to retain its essential unity.
Also included in the exhibition will be numerous drawings, which are the genesis of many of Carter’s sculptures. These studies for his constructions are often drawn with simple pencil on paper with occasional color incorporated, and through use of various geometric shapes help the artist to consider the various permutations that can become his three-dimensional works.
The price range of the sculpture to be available for purchase in the exhibition is $35,000 to $65,000. The proceeds from these sales will benefit the museum.
A fully illustrated catalog with a foreword by John Sexton, president of New York University, and Carey Lovelace, an art critic who has written for Art in America, The New York Times, Newsday, Harper’s, ArForum, Ms, International Herald Tribune, artnet.com and other publications, will accompany the exhibition. It will be available at Grey Art Gallery for $15.
Grey Art Gallery is at 100 Washington Square East. For information 212-998- 6780 or www.nyu.edu/greyart.