Beth Carter’s first solo exhibition at Bertrand Delacroix Gallery opens in New York

NEW YORK, NY.- Bertrand Delacroix Gallery presents Dancing With Morpheus, Beth Carter’s upcoming solo exhibition. The collection of new works will be Carter’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, although her work has been featured in numerous BDG group shows in the past. Carter, a native of Bristol, England, is known for her fantastical sculptures and for her intricately detailed drawings on paper. This show will introduce ten new sculptures and several new drawings.

Carter first crafts her sculptures out of clay or wax and subsequently casts them into limited edition works in bronze or resin. Her work is distinct in that while it is deeply rooted in mythology, it plays with classical precedents to create a new genre – one that is steeped in fantasy, melancholy and whimsy. The artist categorizes her works as “magical realism.” There is something captivating and peculiar about her enchanting minotaurs, winged creatures and hybrid forms. Her unusual sculptures are derived deep in her subconscious; the artist emphasizes that her works emerge from an internal, contemplative place. This unfiltered emotion is clear in her striking works.

Beth Carter, The Conjuror’s Horse, 2013, Charcoal on Paper, 40 x 46.

Perhaps Carter’s most well known piece is the Reading Minotaur, a vulnerable half man, half bull creature naked and hunched over a tiny gold book. This tender piece encapsulates many of the larger themes that run through her entire body of work. Her art often explores the nature of duality and opposition; whether it is the relationship between beasts and humankind, vulnerability and power or the real and the imagined, Carter cleverly juxtaposes conflicting ideas that the viewer, alone, must reconcile. The distinct sense of melancholy present in Carter’s art allows her creatures to be at once physically imposing and emotionally vulnerable. Her thoughtful drawings in charcoal and conté demonstrate this same interior drive to explore sadness and the subconscious. Carter’s unique works create an alternate reality – one that invites the viewer to partake in a journey to a strange, dreamlike world where the lines between man and beast, reality and fantasy and the possible and impossible are no longer clear.

Also included in the exhibition are two whimsical animation boxes that Carter created in collaboration with her husband, digital producer Stuart Mitchell.

Beth Carter received her degree in Fine Art from Sunderland University in the United Kingdom. In 1995, she was awarded 1st prize in the Northern Graduate Show ‘95 at The Royal College of Art, London. Afterwards, she traveled to Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, Mexico, Gambia, Kenya and Tanzania to study mythological sculpture. Her work has been shown in the US and abroad and appears in private collections throughout Europe, Asia and the US. She has temporarily relocated from the UK to Brooklyn, NY to prepare for this exhibition; she will attend the reception tomorrow, February 6.