Carter Hammond (b.1976) grew up on the East Coast in neighboring towns and villages of the historic Hudson River Valley. Interested in art from a young age, this passion was fed by a strong museum and arts background from his parents’ careers. His early influences were the cartoons of Jim Davis and Charles Schultz, as well as comic book characters created by DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Carter did not pursue art in high school in any formal way, favoring sports and socializing.

It was not until he ventured out to Arizona in 1995 to attend Arizona State University, that his dream to become an artist would even emerge. While at ASU, Carter studied under Artists Anthony Pessler, Henry Leo Schoebel and James Pile. In 1997, he began a relationship with Vanier Galleries in Scottsdale, AZ, learning the business and presentation side of the fine art world. This also exposed him to world renown artists and their works such as Dale Chihuly, Ed Mell, Francoise Gillot, Fritz Scholder and Paul Jenkins to name a few.

In 2000, while in his undergraduate studies at ASU, Carter had a solo exhibition at the ASU Harry Wood Art Gallery titled, Wrestling with Childhood. The body of work dealt with the angst of growing older, childhood heroes, death and beauty. The subject matter, somewhat unorthodox, was Professional Wrestling. Because of the exhibition’s unique appeal, it was presented in the Graduate Gallery, a very unique honor for an undergraduate and it received considerable Arizona news coverage.

Then, for the next six years, Carter disappeared from the art world almost entirely. He created very little art during this time period, continued his studies at ASU, completing his B.A. in Art in 2006. A year later, Carter completed Disconnect City, a found object sculpture made of computer circuit boards. The project took nearly ten years to acquire the parts and to do the final assembly. Carter continued to be creative over the next several years and experimented with digital photography and mixed media.

In 2011, Carter began drawing again after a five year hiatus. He started working on several new series. The first of those is entitled The Real Justice League, done in oil pastel, and explores the mythos of invulnerability and the superhero. He also began work on a series titled Thank You, a group of smaller pencil portraits of influential people in his life that died.

In December of that year, Carter’s art made a drastic change from that of his previous works. Not planned, Carter started his Untitled series. Throwing out his conventional academic training and working from the subconscious and emotionally charged base, his work shifted to a much more abstract expressionistic style.

“It’s all about the connection to the piece and the experience of making it. It’s about challenging contemporary notions of what is art and dismissing the rules that the art world including academia tries to place on young artists. When I start one of these pieces, I am in a certain mood and the mood dictates the flavor of the piece. I never know what I am going to get. Sometimes it may look like a figure or a landscape or just patterns. Sometimes I see one thing in the beginning and something totally different appears by the time I have finished.”

Carter plans to continue adding to his Untitled series indefinitely and on the various series that he has already started, as well as to re-visit some works from his past for 2012. While he plans to continue working primarily in his new-found method and style, he never likes to limit himself by medium or subject matter and is always anxious to experiment with things that are new to him.

In 2011, I began drawing again after a five year hiatus and started working on several new series. The first of those is entitled The Real Justice League, done in oil pastel, and explores the mythos of invulnerability and the superhero. I also began work on a series titled Thank You, a group of smaller pencil portraits of influential people in my life that died.

In December of that year, my art made a drastic change from that of previous works. Not planned, I launched my Untitled series. Throwing out my conventional academic training and working from the subconscious as well as an emotionally charged base, my work shifted to a much more abstract expressionistic style.

It’s all about the connection to the piece and the experience of making it. It’s about challenging contemporary notions of what is art and dismissing the rules that the art world including academia tries to place on young artists. When I start one of these pieces, I am in a certain mood and the mood dictates the flavor of the piece. I never know what I am going to get. Sometimes it may look like a figure or a landscape or just patterns. Sometimes I see one thing in the beginning and something totally different appears by the time I have finished.

I plan to continue adding to my Untitled series indefinitely and on the various series that I have already started, as well as to re-visit some works from my past. While I plans to continue working primarily in this new method and style, I never likes to limit myself by medium or subject matter and I am always anxious to experiment with things that are new to me.

PERSONAL

2012 Moved to Cincinnati, OH

2006 B.A. in Art, Arizona State University
Specialization in drawing from the Katherine K.
Herberger College of Fine Arts
Tempe, AZ

1995 Moved to Tempe, Arizona

1976 Born Manhasset, New York

EXHIBITIONS

2013 Internet Café Findlay Market
Cincinnati, OH-Scheduled January 2013

2012-2013 "Art Exhibition 2012" for the Bethesda Foundation Art Project at Mary Jo Cropper Family Center for Breast Care and Bethesda North Outpatient Imaging

2012 Cincinnati Big Pig Gig:Do Re Wee
"This Little Piggy Believes in a Good Foundation"
A gift to Baker Concrete commissioned by Artworks
Installed July 10, 2012
Cincinnati, OH

2012 Pompeii Juried Art Show, Cincinnati Museum Center
Cincinnati, OH-June 21, 2012

2012 Bloom Juried Exhibition
Cincinnati, OH
Civic Garden Center, May 21-June 28, 2012

2012 Internet Café Findlay Market
Cincinnati, OH-May 2012

2012 Internet Café Findlay Market
Cincinnati, OH-April 2012

2008 Arizona Pool Leagues State Championship
“Pool Series” Exhibited
Tempe, AZ

2000 Solo Exhibition “Wrestling With Childhood,”
Harry Wood Art Gallery, Arizona State University,
Tempe, AZ

1999 Plaid Eatery
Tempe, AZ

1999 The Muse Cafe
Tempe, AZ

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2012
The Cincinnati Enquirer, "New Pig Installed Outside Ballpark," 7-29-12

The Cincinnati Enquirer, "New Pig Installed Outside Ballpark," 7-22-12

WKRC CBS12 "This Little Piggy Believes in a Good Foundation" television appearance, 7-10-12

2000
The Arizona Republic, "Pro Wrestling Legends Inspire Exhibit at ASU," 11-29-00
The Arizona Tribune, "Bodyslam," 11-26-00
Get Out, "ASU Student Grapples with Art, Wrestling," 11-23-00
The Rep, "The Art Show is Ready to Rumble," 11-23-00
The New Times, 11-23-00

GALLERY/COLLECTION EXPERIENCE

2003-2007 McClain Collection Scottsdale, AZ
Registrar

2001 Marshal Arts Gallery Scottsdale, AZ
Preparator/Registrar

1999-2004 Vanier Galleries Scottsdale, AZ
Preparator/Registrar

1990 Museum of Cartoon Art Port Chester, NY
Collections Inventory Assistant (summer)