{"id":2458232,"date":"2020-05-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=325472"},"modified":"2020-05-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T06:00:00","slug":"for-artist-richard-carter-a-studio-is-a-sanctuary-through-coronavirus-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/for-artist-richard-carter-a-studio-is-a-sanctuary-through-coronavirus-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"For artist Richard Carter, a studio is a sanctuary through coronavirus crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"769\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/artistcarter-atd-050920-4-769x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/artistcarter-atd-050920-4-769x1024.jpg 769w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/artistcarter-atd-050920-4-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/artistcarter-atd-050920-4-768x1022.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/artistcarter-atd-050920-4-1154x1536.jpg 1154w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/artistcarter-atd-050920-4-1538x2048.jpg 1538w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/artistcarter-atd-050920-4.jpg 1923w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Richard Carter&#8217;s &#8220;Social Distancing (Shelter @ Home),&#8221; graphite and acrylic on Fabriano paper, 2020.<\/strong><br \/><em>Courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For reasons that need little explanation during the coronavirus lockdown period, the artist Richard Carter has been drawing and painting bunkers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Working in graphite, watercolor and some acrylic paint, he\u2019s been making small-scale and slightly surreal pieces that depict the safety structures along with imagery of rubble, often rendered in a blood red with cobalt blue night skies above \u2014 the colors deepened by black under-painting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThese are all actually about what we\u2019re going through now,\u201d Carter said recently via Facetime, walking around the Basalt studio and sharing the many works he\u2019s finished during the COVID-19 public health crisis. \u201cEverybody\u2019s in the bunker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He\u2019s found himself responding directly to the crisis in his new works on paper. A piece titled \u201cSocial Distancing\u201d depicts a dramatic gothic tower rising against a night sky, an imaginary space to ride out a pandemic.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m an artist and I get to be dramatic whenever needed,\u201d Carter said. \u201cIt might even be my job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The body of work emerging from Carter\u2019s quarantine period was inspired in part by 2018 travels to Egypt, Cambodia and France, where he was fascinated by ancient dwelling, quarries and stone structures. In spirit and aesthetics, these new works are a natural progression from Carter\u2019s \u201cErratic\u201d series, which also drew inspiration from geology. Those works \u2014 the subject of a well-received show at Carter\u2019s pop-up gallery in downtown Aspen last summer \u2014 depicted unstable monuments and towers, suited to the instability of organized society in the Donald Trump era.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For Carter, a founder of the Aspen Art Museum and fixture on the Aspen art scene since the early 1970s, his studio has been a sanctuary during the crisis. A hale 73, Carter\u2019s daily routine has consisted of reading for a few hours at home in the morning \u2014 John McPhee\u2019s work on geology has been a highlight, he said \u2014 and then heading to his studio, which sits in an office building along the Roaring Fork River near the commercial core of Basalt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHaving a studio and having something to do and being engaged is tremendous,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just digging in here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He empathizes with artists who\u2019ve had exhibitions canceled and sales fall off during the shutdown of public life during the pandemic, he said. But the timing has coincided with an expected downtime for him, when he hadn\u2019t planned any shows. He hasn\u2019t sought relief grants available to artists from state and national organizations during the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI don\u2019t want to take money when there are people who really need it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><a id=\"N0x1efe020N0x1e936c0:N0x1efe020N0x1fe6688\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/richard-carter-full-circle-longtime-aspen-artist-opens-new-gallery-and-bauhaus-shows\/\">Carter had a momentous 2019<\/a>, which included several exhibitions and major public events for the Roaring Fork Valley\u2019s yearlong celebration of the Bauhaus centennial (Carter worked for the Bauhaus master and Aspen icon Herbert Bayer in the \u201970s) along with Carter opening the Aspen pop-up and showcasing work there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was great, but when you\u2019re going through that, you know that when it\u2019s over you\u2019ve got to start over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So he knew the winter and all of 2020 would be a sort of wood-shedding period in his studio, generating new ideas and new work. After months of experiments and ideas he abandoned, the new work started flowing during the forced isolation of the stay-at-home period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s starting to coalesce into something meaningful now,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And though his Jack Russell Terrier is good company, Carter has missed social life. His longtime girlfriend died in December and he lives alone. His daughter, who works in the film industry, moved back to the valley as Hollywood productions shut down. So he sees her regularly, while following social distancing advisories.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The building where he keeps his studio is normally a relatively bustling hub of office workers, but has been ghost-town quiet since mid-March, and he hasn\u2019t had the usual drop-in visits from friends and collectors that had been customary before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s really bizarre here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Carter recalled seeing a friend on the street, and by reflex inviting them to come over for a visit at the studio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThey looked at me like I was crazy,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cThey just made a face and shook their head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">His social life, instead, has moved to Facetime and Zoom, where he also meets regularly with staff and fellow boardmembers for the Arts Campus at Willits, which is sill heading toward construction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So Carter logs his studio time drawing and painting his small-scale new piece and conceptualizes the larger ones to come. He shares them on Instagram as he finishes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI like this work,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m starting to get it. It\u2019s my philosophy that after a big show or a big event like (the Bauhaus celebration and exhibitions), you\u2019ve got to get right back in there and start doing stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:atravers@aspentimes.com\">atravers@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/for-artist-richard-carter-a-studio-is-a-sanctuary-through-coronavirus-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Carter&#8217;s &#8220;Social Distancing (Shelter @ Home),&#8221; graphite and acrylic on Fabriano paper, 2020.Courtesy photo For reasons that need little explanation during the coronavirus lockdown period, the artist Richard Carter has been drawing and painting bunkers. Working in graphite, watercolor and some acrylic paint, he\u2019s been making small-scale and slightly surreal pieces that depict the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 17:54:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}