Rob Carter
Faith in a Seed
April 13–June 23, 2012
Opening:
Friday April 13, 6–8pm
Art in General
79 Walker Street
New York, NY 10013
212-219-0473
Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders. – Henry David Thoreau
In Rob Carter’s solo exhibition Faith in A Seed, miniature replicas of three 19th Century estates – Charles Darwin’s Down House, Henry David Thoreau’s cabin at Walden, and Sir John Bennet Lawes’ Rothamsted Manor – will slowly disappear, overtaken by the gardens in which they reside. The transformation will occur over the course of the five–week exhibition at Art in General from April 13 – June 23, 2012.
Faith in a Seed intertwines the languages of science and history into a living sculptural form. The three manors are the centerpieces of a large-scale triangular garden consisting of dandelions, bush beans, and corn, planted in three distinct sections to represent each man’s methodology. Viewers are invited to witness as the garden overcomes the estates in Carter’s controlled but fragile ecosystem in three distinct ways: time-based video projections, peepholes cut into the sides of the garden, and from an elevated viewing platform.
The exhibition lives between the gallery and the outside world, exposing the disproportionate relationship between food and shelter while highlighting man’s willingness to intervene in the natural order of the environment.
Rob Carter, born in Worcester, UK, 1976, lives and works in Brooklyn, NY since 2000. He received his BFA from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art (Oxford) in 1998, and his MFA from Hunter College, NY in 2003. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Galeria Fruela, Madrid, Spain; Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome, Italy; Ebersmoore, Chicago, and group exhibitions at the ICA, Philadelphia; Galeria Ramis Barquet, NY; Bruce Silverstein Gallery, NY; and Festival NARRACJE in Gdansk, Poland. Carter has participated in numerous residency programs including Atlantic Center for the Arts (2003), McColl Center for Visual Arts (2007), Art Omi (2008), Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation (2008-2009), AIR Krems in Austria (2010) and La Alqueria de los Artistas in Valenica, Spain (2010). He is currently in residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) workspace studio program.
About Art in General
Founded in 1981 in Lower Manhattan, Art in General is a nonprofit organization that assists artists with the production and presentation of new work. It changes in response to the needs of artists and engages the public with their work. Since it was established, the organization has emerged as one of New York City’s leading nonprofits devoted to supporting and stimulating the creation of contemporary art, providing an environment in which artists may exhibit unconventional work and exchange ideas with their peers.
Media Contact
Maureen Sullivan
Red Art Projects
maureen@redartprojects.com
