Simon Carter

About The Artist

'..... the slowness and directness of walking, drawing and painting opens up the possibilities of real insight and connection...'

Simon Carter is an artist and curator who was born in Chelmsford, Essex. He studied at Colchester Institute (1980–81) and then North East London Polytechnic (1981–84).

A solo exhibition of paintings, Representation, was at The Cut February/March, 2010.

In 2013 he collaborated with artist Robert Priseman to form the artist led group Contemporary British Painting and then the ‘East Contemporary Art Collection’, the first dedicated collection of contemporary art for the East of England which is housed at the University of Suffolk, Ipswich.

Carter is President of Colchester Art Society and has been Artist-in-residence at the University of Essex and Firstsite, Colchester. He is represented by Messum’s.

Simon Carter was included in the Contemporary Masters from the East of England exhibition held at The Cut in 2017. Work for the exhibition was drawn from the Priseman-Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting.

Work by Simon Carter was included in FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING an online only exhibition curated in 2020/21 during the pandemic lockdowns.

The Cut Digital Archive series has an interview with Simon Carter.

Contemporary Masters from the East of England

The Contemporary Masters from the East of England Exhibition catalogue (downloadable .pdf)

Swimmers

Of his working process Simon Carter says

It might seem doubly unfashionable to paint and then to make those paintings about landscape. But I’d like to think that the slowness and directness of walking, drawing and painting opens up the possibilities of real insight and connection, and that landscape, being fit subject for serious painting, provides the necessary levels of uncertainty and discovery for painting to flourish.

I grew up on the flat coast of North East Essex, a world orientated by the constant horizon, and the meaning in my painting activity is rooted in this landscape, one that is not immediately picturesque but has a quality of otherness. I make small, gnomic drawings outdoors. The act of drawing encourages slowing down and a more intense regard. I tend to draw the same things over and over seeking territory beyond the familiar. I don’t use photography as it brings too much extraneous information into the studio. The paintings then develop by dissecting the drawings for marks, structures, patterns and insights.

Solo exhibitions include
The SEA Foundation, Netherlands
Messum’s
Firstsite in Essex and
AKA Contemporary, Cambridge.

Group shows include
Newcastle Contemporary Art
International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, Alaska
National Museum of Poland, Gdansk,
Iasi Palace of Culture, Romania and
Yantai Museum, China

Work in museum collections including
Abbot Hall
Rugby Art Gallery
Swindon Art Gallery
Falmouth Art Gallery and
the University of Essex.

Recently work has entered museum collections in China and USA, including the Yale Centre for British Art.

Exhibitions Featuring Simon Carter