Like Alexander Liberman, the CondeĢ Nast editorial director who died two years ago and had a second career as a sculptor, Arthur Carter, owner of The New York Observer, has been quietly making art in his studio in Connecticut for more than nine years. Last year Mr. Carter had a one-man show at the Salander-O'Reilly Galleries in Manhattan. Now six sculptures from that show can be seen for three months on the newly renovated plaza in front of the General Motors building, on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets.
The works, of gleaming metal in a variety of styles, all seem indebted to David Smith, although Liberman's work may also have been an inspiration. ''It was always graphic design that was the area of publishing that interested me most,'' Mr. Carter said. ''And that's what these sculptures are about.''