WASHINGTON—The Stairwell Gallery at Gunn Memorial Library is to present an exhibition of sculptures, orthogonals and paintings by Arthur Carter from April 26 through June 21 with a reception on April 26 from 5 to 7 p.m.
The artist will give a short talk during the reception.
Mr. Carter’s early years might seem like another person’s full lifetime of events. He was trained as a classical pianist, majored in French literature at Brown University, served three years in the United States Coast Guard as a lieutenant commanding officer of an air search and rescue craft, then received his MBA in finance from Dartmouth, followed by a 25-year career as an investment banker.
In 1981, he started a new venture, founding the Litchfield County Times and six years later the New York Observer. He was also the publisher of the Nation and the East Hampton Star. And in 2008, the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute was founded at New York University where Mr. Carter is a trustee and chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Faculty of Arts and Science. Mr. Carter has also held adjunct professorships in philosophy and journalism at NYU.
The grid design and layout of the front pages of his newspapers inspired him to reproduce that same theme but in a three dimensional format and using stainless steel. This was a material he had learned to master when he was in Officer Candidate School where he learned welding. Thus, sculpting “became the latest statement of his polymath proclivities.”
Soon he working with wood, clay and copper wire and then larger constructions in silicon bronze and stainless steel. Many of his larger pieces are on permanent public display in New York City. The fabrication process can take months to complete and involves all the complexities of a machine shop, but each piece begins with one common denominator, his sketch pad.
The Stairwell Gallery exhibit will include Mr. Carter’s “Orthogonals.” A catalog of his exhibit at the New Britain Museum of American Art from fall 2011 describes the pieces as follows: “Arthur Carter’s bold new series, which he calls collectively the Orthogonals, offers a fine example of a mixed mode that channels the powers of painting and sculpture through the distinguished medium of the relief. These pieces are complex in their simplicity. They are strong, mathematical and, like his other work, they vary in finish and are affected by the changing light and reflection. Carter has said, “My work focuses on simplifying and eliminating the excessive. The question is how does purity of design lend itself to making a beautiful and elegant piece?”
Arthur Carter maintains a production facility and design studio in Roxbury. He has been a featured solo artist at many galleries, including the Tennessee State Museum, The Grey Art Gallery, 80WSE Galleries at New York University and the New Britain Museum of American Art. Mr. Carter is the author of two hardcover books, “Arthur Carter: Sculptures, Paintings, Drawings” (2009) and “Arthur Carter: Studies for Construction” (2012).
For further information call 860-868-7586 or e-mail chartman@biblio.org. The Gunn Memorial Library is located at 5 Wykeham Road in Washington. For library hours and to learn more about programs and events visit www.gunnlibrary.org.