Art Academy Gallery, in Mosta, is currently promoting the works of the young artist Clinton Carter, who is known to engage in the nature of humanity and the human figure in most of his artistic accomplishments. This current exhibition titled Flesh, seems to encapsulate figures and portraits for this space; bringing in this flourishing artist with a clean, and not so complex elegant body of work.
Experimentation with oil technique features in most of his paintings. Over glazed with varnish, his paintings have a certain shiny or glossy yellow finish added to them. When cardboard is used as a surface, the absorption of oil paint in the cardboard, results into an interesting amalgamation of the diluted paint and the grey surface. The way he treats paint shows that Carter has certain confidence and perceives his end result very clearly; such that none of his paintings is said to be unfinished.
A face tells a thousand words, an expression speaks out the inner thoughts and feelings, emotions are expressed, and that face can be resembled to previous generations. Thus, every painting of a face encapsulates all this into a static moment. Most of his portraits feature a rather sombre palette, as if Carter is cautious to use brighter colours. The faces captured from a frontal angle, almost iconic figures, are generally rendered in flesh tone colours over a greyish or brown background. Instead of being concerned about replication, Carter’s point of concentration is more to put across the poser’s deepest thoughts.
As soon as you go up the gallery stairs, on to the left a round school boy’s face, dominates all the other portraits and captures the viewers’ attention. Looking grim and wearing glasses, the expression is very transparent - of a young boy bored at school. Sketches that Clinton Carter keeps and improves upon are available for the viewers to skim through at the exhibition. This is the authentic proof, showing that his work is not based upon imagination only; but faithful to reality.
What can rather be disturbing or looked at in awe, is his work entitled “Disturbances of Adolescences.” The thin lines of paint, sometimes featured as if directly applied from the tube, twist and overlap and blend into each other. From a distance, one can miss them for vibrantly coloured strings tangled into a jumbled mass that forms a face. This painting is outstanding and stands rather bright when hung next to the others. Influences of Francis Bacon as regards colour application and the psychological manifestation are visible in this work. It can also be said that even the local artist Ray Pitre` who inaugurated this exhibition, might have indirectly influenced Carter, mainly in the way the layers of colour are applied.
A particular technique is used by Clinton Carter as he handles linocut. Sheets of linoleum, maybe not necessarily cut for a specific painting, are rolled over with excessive paint and printed onto his surfaces in dark hues. This creates a rather unique array of colours which overlap; not in a chaotic manner but in a pleasing way, retaining the harmonious and balanced character of the painting. At times, Carter even creates his background by lino prints and then paints over.
This technique leaves a similar effect to that of collage. The work titled “Work Overcomes Everything,” depicts parts of the linoleum cut in pieces and glued on to a surface to form what looks like a jigsaw, together with pieces of sack taken from the back of the linoleum. An interesting amalgamation of material painted over in blues, purple, greys and black show people doing manual work. Light coming in from the gallery window, throws sharp shadowy angles on this painting, enhancing its depth. Carter creates a similar collage effect in his work titled “ Courage, Fear and Consolation” where pieces of paper of different sizes are cut and glued next to each other and painted over; leaving the edges purposefully visible.
Carter treats certain matters both personally and socially – bringing together what ultimately is perceivable to others and what Carter conceptually feels as tangible. The aspect of Abortion is treated in one of his paintings. Babies in unidentified forms, twisted in unnatural positions are finding comfort in each other, since circumstances have thrown them into a similar situation. The umbilical cord runs through them to join them together. Bold slashes of charcoal, together with mixed media and dripping oil crimson red paint, add to the macabre situation of these babies. Treacherous and scary scenes flash through our minds while we draw closer to this painting and make us wince at the sight of it. A comparable composition lies in what is almost the largest painting in the gallery titled “Migration;” where male muscled figures, similar in position and arrangement to Michelangelo’s cartoon for the Battle of Cascina, are seen heading for different directions and yet are all centred together.
The position of a boy sitting down in isolation with his elbow on his knee and his head bent down in the work entitled ‘The Thinker’ is reminiscent of an adolescent undergoing inner turmoil and trying to understand his own feelings. The face is not visible but the position is expressive enough in itself. With regards to the application of paint, this painting can be compared to “Disturbances of Adolescences.”
The use of strong lines, change his figures to robust and monumental; showing that Carter has a good grip of the study of anatomy. Seeing Clinton Carter’s present exhibition, one can note that despite centering his work around the same theme that preoccupies his thoughts – the complex Homo sapiens and the allegory of the figurative; his style is somewhat changing to an experimental, free and confident one.
“Flesh” will be open until 20 August at the Art Academy, Constitution Street, Mosta.