I was initially drawn to the Betty Warren Herzeg Gallery in the Yager Museum, because of the bright colors radiating from the tiny circular space. When I saw Carter’s serigraphs I didn’t even realize they were serigraphs at all, which are prints made from a silk-screening process. They seemed too flawless. The precision of Carter’s work adds to how impressive these four pieces are.
When I look at art, I try to do so first without looking at the title of the pieces. When I do this I feel like I’m forming my own opinions and making my own inferences without being swayed by the name given by the creator of the piece. It feels like I’m observing the piece in a more pure way. Normally this works positively for me. However in this case it did not. Every piece left me feeling puzzled. I wasn’t sure what the artist was even trying to portray…until I read the titles. Suddenly everything became clear to me. I’ve never experienced art where the title is so vital in understanding the concept of the piece.
The first piece I observed looks like a silhouette and its shadow. I later saw its title which is “Nude in Motion.” This makes perfect sense as motion is illustrated through a slight change in hue in the silhouette of what I thought was the brighter silhouette’s shadow. I was at a conceptual loss when I saw the second serigraph. It looks like a grid in the background with some bright red ovular shapes in the foreground. The title is “Fiery Furnace.” Again, I immediately saw what the artists had intended after I read the title. It did, in fact, look like an abstract version of fire in a fireplace. I really questioned the third serigraph. There was a larger circular shape on top of a small circular shape. In the larger shape there was a very realistic looking eye. I asked myself over and over what this could mean. When I read the title, “Balancing Act,” things became a little bit clearer. It was more about the composition of the piece and the connection between the two shapes rather than the eye. The last serigraph seems the most significant. It shows three crucifixes, all of which have somewhat abstract bodies nailed to them. The background is red, which I assumed was making some type of allusion to hell. There is also a fiery looking sun, but it’s covered with a black shadow. Additionally, there are numerous spear-like tools pointing upward towards the crucifixes. The title of this piece is “The Ninth Hour,” which is very appropriate. During the ninth hour of Christ’s crucifixion, he yelled “My God, why have you forsaken me?” At that moment, Christ experienced a real hell on earth in order to save mankind from their sin. This piece clearly depicts that scene.
All Carter’s pieces are very interesting. He exhibits great use of color while incorporating an interesting abstract technique that results in a mystical quality.
