Introduction
Esther Schipper is pleased to present Silky-way Sylvan Slip-throughs Serrated Sub-space Side-winders and Countess Von Venomous’ Private Pearl Position, a special presentation by Nathan Carter, who has had four solo exhibitions with the gallery.
On view will be three new hanging sculptural works that playfully combine delicate linear elements and a multitude of suspended whimsical, soft abstract shapes. This new body of works focuses on a formal language of shapes and symbols that allude to feminine anatomy, floral forms and colors but with dangerously sharp edges that serve as a self-defense mechanism. Silky Way Sylvan slip throughs for Switchblade Shirley from Sapphronia, 2022, for instance, consists of a coral red armature of intersecting curving lines appearing as a sinuous thoroughfare in which a multitude of small metal elements hang suspended. Continuing his characteristic DIY aesthetic, the small cut-outs are hand painted and their rounded shapes dangle mobile-like from fine metal wires. To the artist, his forms evoke atmospheric locations where mysterious figures, forces of benevolence, enchantment and mischief oppose tyranny.
A driving force of Carter’s contemporary works is the question of self-invention, a notion also explored in his two films THE DRAMASTICS ARE LOUD, 2016, and LA GNARLIES, 2021, and most recently in the artist’s recent collaborative series of staged photographs, images and portraits of the artist conjuring MARS The Goddess of Sex and Death as she explores her trans-identity and draws on historical photographs from the 1950s through the 1980s of marginalized groups considered transgressive by mainstream society.