FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NATHAN CARTER THE FLY-BY-NIGHT MEGA METRO SUB ROSA TURBULENT TWISTER EXHIBITION DATES: SEPTEMBER 5 – OCTOBER 26, 2013 OPENING: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 6-8PM Casey Kaplan is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Nathan Carter (b. 1970, Dallas, TX.) In new drawings and panoramic panel paintings, Nathan Carter has begun an investigation into an idea of the future that is the product of years of volatile urban growth. Heavy maritime salvage, mining, drilling, logging, pirating and an ever- expanding industry of data-mining operations have in effect created a new dynamic landscape. Built at high altitudes and by the water’s edge, Carter’s cities are populated by monuments to their own hubris, fragile towers topped with car- ousels, dilapidated dormitories, and take-away eateries veiling their dystopic nature with an exuberance that suggests a “bad business as usual” attitude. In response, the environment has become equally turbulent, battering the settlements with rogue waves, electric snowstorms and pink lightning, which amplifies mounting social tensions - verging on a state of industrial disaster and perpetual crisis. Formal explorations remain central to these works. They represent equally an interest in the language of abstraction as they do a series of layered references to these precarious environments. Taking an approach that is both studied and jerry-rigged, Carter’s new works are an exploration in storytelling achieved through an experimentation with form and material. This interplay is highlighted in new sculptural works, where constellations of geometric forms are suspended in space and slowly reveal themselves as buoyant towers. Similarly, Carter not only builds the cities of his drawings and paintings through his fictional narratives but also through the process of drawing itself. Flat planes, loose gestural marks and shapes are revisited and reworked, expanded and refined to give way to the structural foundations. In an almost cartographical approach, areas of color and form are first designated as mountains and rivers, then gestural lines become roads, aerial lifts and skyways before they are further developed into an infrastructure – buildings, bridges, tunnels, signal towers – intrusions from the crevices that constantly react with the abstract, invented landscape. In effect, Carter’s process mimics a refined stream of consciousness, creat- ing systems that are perpetually in flux. Nathan Carter recently completed a large-scale permanent outdoor installation titled, HOUSTON RADIO RADAR RE- FLECTORS at the University of Houston, TX. In the spring of 2013, Carter painted pressure vessel capsules for EBEX, a joint experiment between Columbia University and NASA, which successfully launched into the stratosphere above Antarctica. Past solo exhibitions include: ALWAYS VOCAL ON THE INTERBORO CROSSTOWN LOCAL, presented by the Blaffer Museum of Art as part of the “Windows into Houston” series, 2012, THE FLYING BRIXTON BANGARANG AND RADIO VIBRATION VEX-VENTURE, MURA, Museo de Arte Raul Anguiano, Guadalajara, Mexico, 2009, and THE COVERT CAVIAR FREQUENCY DISRUPTOR, ArtPace, San Antonio, TX, 2008. Additionally his work has been exhibited in numerous group exhibitions including The Fields Sculpture Park, OMI International Arts Center, Ghent, NY, 2013, The Map as Art, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, 2012/2013, Wireless, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA, 2012, and Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, 2010, Traveled to: Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX, 2011, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA, 2011, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, 2011/2012. For further information about the artists or the exhibition, contact the gallery. NEW ADDITION TO UH PUBLIC ART COLLECTION WELCOMING STUDENTS “HOUSTON RADIO RADAR REFLECTORS” TO ADD AMBIENCE TO NEW COUGAR PLACE August 23, 2013 Houston Students arriving to the University of Houston will note a drastically changed campus. In addition to the new garages and residence halls, both first-time and returning Coogs will observe the latest sculpture in the university’s acclaimed Public Art Collection. “Houston Radio Radar Reflectors” is a colorful screening wall connected to the new Cougar Place residence hall (located at Wheeler Avenue and Cullen Boulevard). The recently installed piece is the handiwork of artist Nathan Carter. The piece includes six swirling aluminum sculptures located outside of the residence hall’s northern window and next to its outdoor patio. Each piece includes multicolored Nathan Carter’s “Houston Radio Radar Reflectors” is the tiles in various shapes (triangles, circles, ovals, half-circles) and sizes. It is the first latest addition to UH’s acclaimed Public Art Collection. The installation complements the new Cougar Place public artwork created by Carter. residence hall. In creating each component of the sculpture, Carter said that he took into consideration its resiliency – how it would withstand outdoor conditions such as wind and rain. At the same time, he envisioned a work that would be welcoming to Cougar Place residents and the UH community. “My idea is that the sculptures would be interactive,” Carter said. “Students can use them to hang their backpacks or rest their cups of coffee. I also wanted to create something that was inviting for students. So, I selected colors that were playful and a feast for the eyes.” Carter’s interests in old-fashioned, handmade electronic devices inspired the title “Houston Radio Radar Reflectors”. The title and design complements some of Carter’s recent works that utilize shapes that can perhaps be used to pick up radio signals. While this is Carter’s first outdoor public installation, he has shown works in galleries across the country and internationally. His recent exhibitions include “Slayer Metallica” at Esther Schipper gallery in Berlin, “Pocket Shrapnel Set-Ups Veronica Vex and Brooklyn Street Treasures” at Casey Kaplan gallery in New York, and “The Flying Brixton Bangarang and Radio Vibration Vex-Venture” in Museo de Arte Raul Anguiana in Guada- lajara, Mexico. “I am over the moon at seeing this project at the university,” he said. “It’s taken me a while to create a public work like this. I am really excited to share this with students and the rest of the University community.” “Houston Radio Radar Reflectors” joins more than 400 works that comprise the UH System PublicArt Collection. The University was one of the first state institutions to allot one percent of its facilities’ construction budgets toward public art works. The System Wide Art Acquisition Committee assists in selecting works for UH System universities. Michael Guidry is the collection’s curator. http://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2013/august/RadioReflectors.php American Academy of Arts and Letters NEWS RELEASE 633 WEST 155 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10032 Contact: Souhad Rafey (212) 368-5900 [email protected] www.artsandletters.org EXHIBITION THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS ANNOUNCES ARTISTS 2011 INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION OF VISUAL ARTS Rosaire Appel MARCH 10 – APRIL 10 Amy Bennett Willard Boepple February 17, 2011 – Over 110 paintings, photographs, sculptures, and works on paper by 35 con- temporary artists will be exhibited at the galleries of the American Academy of Arts and Letters John Bradford on historic Audubon Terrace (Broadway between 155 and 156 Streets) from Thursday, March 10 Katherine Bradford through Sunday, April 10, 2011. Exhibiting artists were chosen from a pool of nearly 200 nominees Troy Brauntuch submitted by the 250 members of the Academy, America’s most prestigious honorary society of Nathan Carter architects, artists, writers, and composers. Robert Chambers Willie Cole ART AWARDS AND PURCHASE PROGRAM The Academy’s art awards and purchase programs serve to acknowledge artists at various stages of Adam Cvijanovic their careers, from helping to establish younger artists to rewarding older artists for their accumu- Donna Dennis lated body of work. Paintings and works on paper are eligible for purchase and placement in mu- Bryan Drury seum collections nationwide through the Hassam, Speicher, Betts and Symons Funds. Works by Jim John Duff Nutt (The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY), Chris Martin (Museum of Contemporary Angela Dufresne Art, Chicago, IL), Judy Linn (Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX), and Charles Gaines (Minneapo- lis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN) are among the twelve works purchased last year. Reginald Nicole Eisenman Marsh and Guy Pene du Bois were some of the program’s earliest beneficiaries. Since the purchase Bruce Gagnier program’s founding in 1946, through the legacy of Childe Hassam, more than one thousand works David Humphrey have been purchased and donated to museums throughout the country. Joan Jonas For further information, please visit http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_art.php. Robert Kushner Ellen Lanyon THE ACADEMY The American Academy of Arts and Letters was established in 1898 to “foster, assist, and sustain Jonathan Lasker an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts,” and is chartered by Congress. Founding mem- Patricia Leighton bers include William Merritt Chase, Kenyon Cox, Daniel Chester French, Childe Hassam, Henry Liza Lou James, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Vedder, and Woodrow Wilson. Each year, the Academy gives Tristin Lowe approximately one million dollars in awards to artists, architects, writers, and