John Carter RA

Born: 1942, Middlesex
Elected RA: July 2007
Category of Membership: Sculptor

John Carter RA, 'Forms Within a Frame, Large Version', 2010. Mixed media. Photo: John Bodkin/DawkinsColour John Carter is best known for his abstract sculptures. His work is frequently described as being a dialogue between painting and sculpture. It consists mainly of constructed ‘wall-objects’, often with a mathematical basis. Fully three-dimensional works have been less frequent in his output.

Carter was born in Middlesex in 1942 and studied at the Twickenham School of Art from 1958 and then at Kingston School of Art until 1963. A Leverhulme Travelling Scholarship took him to Italy, where he made his first abstract constructed works at the British School at Rome. On returning to England, Carter was engaged as an assistant to the sculptor Bryan Kneale and worked towards his first solo exhibition at Redfern Gallery, London in 1968. After winning two Arts Council Awards, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Warwick Arts Trust, London in 1983. Later, Carter participated in the international show Die Ecke at Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg, Germany, where he made his first contact with European concrete and constructive artists. He has since exhibited widely in Europe, Japan and the USA. John Carter held a teaching position at the Chelsea College of Art and Design until his retirement from the post in 1999. He now lives and works in London.

Read an interview with John Carter in RA Magazine Autumn 2010

Recent solo exhibitions
2012 'John Carter' Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern
2012 'Sideways and Down' A special display of the 1966 sculpture with three other works, Southampton City Art Gallery
2011 'Between Dimensions' Galerie La Ligne, Zurich
2011 'Two and a Half Dimensions' De Vierde Dimensie, Plasmolen, Netherlands
2011 'Wall Sculptures' Galerie Grewenig/Nissen, Heidelberg
2010 'Retrospective' Redfern Gallery, London
2010 'Carter' Espace Fanal, Basle
2009 'Take 2' Works on Paper (with Belinda Cadbury), NSA Noborimachi Space of Art, Hiroshima
2009 Galerie St.Johann, Saarbrücken
2008 Konstruktiv Tendens, Stockholm
2008 'British Arts, John Carter' Live & Moris Gallery, Tokyo
2008 'Wandobjekte 1986 - 2008' Galerie & Edition Hoffmann (with Lars Englund), Friedberg
2008 'Surface, Structure, Colour; Neue Wandobjekte' Gudrun Spielvogel Galerie & Edition, Munich
2008 Konstruktiv Tendens, Stockholm
2007 Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Group shows

2012 (Situation Kunst für Max Imdahl), Bochum. Touring to: Museum Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern; Academie der Künste, Berlin; Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg; Kunsthalle, Rostock
2012 ‘Abstraction’ Redfern Gallery, London
2011 ‘Formes et Lumière: la Sculpture dans l’Art Construit’, Musée de Cambrai. Touring to: Pierre-André Benoit Museum, Alés, France
2011 ‘Summer Exhibition’ Royal Academy of Arts, London
2011 ’NSA collection, Part-1 & Part-2’ Noborimachi Space of Art, Hiroshima ’Blau’ Galerie Konkret Martin Wörn, Sulzburg/Breisgau
2011’...auf papier’ Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern Group Exhibition, De Vierde Dimensie, Plasmolen, Netherlands London Group, Part 2, The Cello Factory, London ’(geometrische) Abstactie 1950-2010, een hommage aan Joost Baljeu’ Galerie Wittveen, Amsterdam
‘Ausbruch, Malerie und realer Raum’ Kunstsammlungen der Ruhr-Universität
2010 ‘Couleur et Géométrie. Actualité de l’Art Construit Européen’ Musées de Sens, France. Touring to: Kunstverein
2010 ‘Talstrasse’ e.V. Halle, Germany; Kunsthaus, Nürnberg, Germany; National Museum, Kielce, Poland; Centre d’Art Contemporain Frank Popper, Marcigny, France (2011)
2010 ‘Panorama graphique et petite sculpture construite’ Galerie le Cube, Estavayer-le Lac, Switzerland ’Galerie Emilia Suciu, Geometrisch - Abstrakt – Kinetisch’ Kunstverein Speyer
2010 ’Summer Exhibitiom’ Royal Academy of Arts, London
2010 ’What a Relief’ Flowers East, London
2010 'Edition Konkret Martin Wörn Kabinettausstellung im Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg Konkrete Konzepte' Galerie Ruhnke, Potsdam
2010 ‘Art, Abstrait, Concret’ Galerie Jean Greset, Besançon
2010 ‘A Quiet Moment’ John Carter, Simon Fitzgerald, Yoko Sawai, Gallery Yamaguchi, kunst-bau, Osaka
2009 ‘Bibliotheca Durantiana: Reliures d’artistes modernes et contemporains’ Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Woluwé-Saint-Pierre, Belgium
2009 ‘Summer Exhibition’ Royal Academy of Arts, London
2009 ’Positionen konkreter Kunst heute’ Landesmuseum Mainz, Mainz, Germany
2009 ’L’Oblique’ Un regard sur la géometrie contemporaine, Musées de Montbéliard, France
2009 ’Dialogues + Transformations’ Frank Badur, John Carter, Julia Farrer, Eagle Gallery EMH Arts, London
2009 ‘Autumn Exhibition’ Redfern Gallery, London
2009 ‘Mehr fach. - kunst in kleinen auflagen’ Galerie Konkret Martin Wörn, Sulzburg/Breisgau
2009 ‘ADO’ Artists Doing Objects, Jaggedart, London
2009 ‘40 Jahre Galerie St.Johann’ Jahresausstellung 2009/10, Galerie St Johann, Saarbrücken

• Royal Academy of Arts