Written by on . Posted in Artist, Ian James Carr

Ian James Carr

BIOGRAPHY / MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT, USA, 1987

Ian James Carr graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie of Amsterdam in 2011. “Broken Language”, curated by Daine Coppola at REVERSE Space (New York) in 2014, “Future Origins”, also curated by Daine Coppola and hold at Gallery Rene Mele (New York) in 2015 and “I’ve Lost Control Again”, curated by Tracy McKenna at the Greenwich Flinn Gallery in 2016, are just some of his solo exhibitions. Many of his artworks are in collections of Amsterdam and New York.

Carr’s work is realized through the relationship that his materials have with each other as well as their relationship with the materials used in everyday life. Steel and wood are used most often because they are the primary materials of our homes and infrastructure. The forms Carr’s sculptures take arise spontaneously from the means of construction, and the materials and tools he have access to heavily dictate the outcome of each piece. For Carr this is exciting because he has leaned it is better not to plan or make blueprints before making a sculpture, he feels that making a plan has a negative effect on the creative aspect of making art. Carr likes to let the materials and forms he is working with have the power, to allow them to flow freely in their abilities and strengths, while he performs merely as a liaison between the raw material and the finished work. It takes a certain level of sensitivity towards the material and the materials counterpoints in the real world in order to make the next decision and he has learned to do this through practicing acute observation both inside and outside of the studio, learning on how things fit together physically and conceptually. Ultimately his works become about the spatial and material relationships of each piece, while remaining conscious and playful of the possible connections the viewer may make to things in real-world space and situations.