2003.02.04
Balancing Act
1976 (Date created)
Lithograph
0 in L x 26.125 in W x 35 in H x 0 in D
American
Balancing Act centers on a crisp, white ovoid shape with one realistic eye surrounded by a vivid blue background. This large, flat form appears to balance atop a second ovoid that rests on a dark horizontal surface. With its illusionistic shading, this smaller shape takes on a more three-dimensional appearance. The collaged black-and-white eye seems to be androgynous, not explicitly suggesting either masculine or feminine characteristics. The eye does not portray any specific display of emotion, as it simply looks straight at the viewer. Although only containing a single facial feature, the ovoid form contributes to the construction of an abstract human face. By indicating the existence of a humanin this space, the smaller ovoid form becomes the neck on which the individual’s head balances. The simplified background and suggestion of a horizon line produce a space that is just as ambiguous as the face itself. The viewer cannot distinguish the setting in which this moment takes place. This contrasts with some of Clarence Holbrook Carter’s other works, in which similar ovoid shapes are located within more realistic landscape scenes. [1]
Originally from Portsmouth, Ohio, Carter attended the Cleveland School of Art and graduated in 1927. He eventually taught both in Cleveland and at the College of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [2] Although Carter’s early practice spanned still life, portraits, and landscapes, he is best known for the combination of symbolism, abstraction, and surrealism in his later practice. His works often explored life and death, themes that have been connected to the death of the artist’s younger sisters and his father by the time he was a teenager. [3]
Carter printed Balancing Act with the help of Alexander Heinrici, a printmaker that also worked on the late work of Andy Warhol. [4] This print is only one of Carter’s many works that were a part of a series that focused on the ovoid symbol. The series began in 1965 with two pieces, Air Chamberand The Planner. [5] As art historian Douglas Dreishpoon writes, “the egg symbolizes everything and nothing, being and becoming; it is a metaphor for life and death, unification and dissolution, spirit and void. Represented as pure light in Carter’s paintings, it signifies a struggle between the random forces of nature and eternal timelessness.” [6] For Carter, the ovoid served as both a spiritual symbol and a physical body, which allowed him to alter its presence and purpose in a number of ways. “By the mid-sixties my work became pure ovoids with collage features,” Carter explained, “One eye appeared often in these collages. These then evolved into a symbol of life and at the same time spirit with a life of their own.” [7]
The inclusion of the ovoid in Balancing Act hints toward a deeper interpretation of Carter’s work. When egg-like shapes assist in the creation of an anthropomorphic form, they suggest the symbolic presence of life. As art critic Ricardo Pau-Llosa has explained, “Behind its static, lifeless shell, an egg hides a life. Hatching is both the instant in which the life appears and the instant in which the integrity of the egg is shattered.” [8] In prints such as Balancing Act, Carter makes apparent his interest in the contradictory status of the egg, a form that sacrifices itself for a new life.
Balancing Act is an ambiguous image of gender. Although not as explicit as his other works in its display of gender roles, the work’s ovoid imagery connects to the maternal associations of birth and fertility. However, no additional representation of the female can be seen in Balancing Act, as the unidentifiable eye is positioned atop a background of blue, a color more commonly understood as a masculine signifier. The title of the work hints toward this juxtaposition of masculine and feminine characteristics, which creates a balance of sorts in the gender of the work itself. The life within the egg might express either male or female traits but chooses to be seen as containing equal parts of both. The work maintains an equilibrium between these representations of contrasting identities, ultimately creating its own individuality by residing in a space between them. This decision can be related to the androgynous sexualities that are expressed by many people, challenging preconceived notions of how gender is recognized by others. Although represented in an abstract way, Carter’s Balancing Act sheds light on important questions about the expression of gender identity through the combination of opposing gender norms.
[1] See, for instance, Carter’s Eschatos series. Frank Anderson Trapp, et. al, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Chesterfield, MA: Chameleon Books, Inc., 1989, pp. 42, 120-123.
[2] Introduction, Exhibition of Paintings by Clarence H. Carter, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, 1940.
[3] Monroe A. Denton, Jr., Some Notes on Clarence Carter, Clarence H. Carter: A retrospective 1927-1978, Allentown, PA: Center for the Arts, 1978.
[4] “Balancing Act, 1978,”Minneapolis Institute of Art, https://collections.artsmia.org/art/98734/balancing-act-clarence-holbrook-carter Accessed March 31,2018. On Heinrici’s work with Warhol, see Studio Visit: Alexander Heinrici, Christie’s, October 17, 2017, http://www.christies.com/features/Alexander-Heinrici-Warhols-screenprinter-8606-3.aspx, Accessed March 31, 2018.
[5] Douglas Dreishpoon, The Middle Years: Between Temporality and Timelessness, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Chesterfield, MA: Chameleon Books, Inc., 1989, p. 37.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Florence M. Hetzler, Clarence Carter: Philosopher and Prophet, Clarence H Carter: A retrospective 1927-1978, Allentown, PA: Center for the Arts, 1978.
[8] Ricardo Pau-Llosa, The Ovoid –Symbol as Structure of Thought, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Chesterfield, MA: Chameleon Books, Inc., 1989, 41.
Author: Darien Pepple - Spring 2018
Originally from Portsmouth, Ohio, Carter attended the Cleveland School of Art and graduated in 1927. He eventually taught both in Cleveland and at the College of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [2] Although Carter’s early practice spanned still life, portraits, and landscapes, he is best known for the combination of symbolism, abstraction, and surrealism in his later practice. His works often explored life and death, themes that have been connected to the death of the artist’s younger sisters and his father by the time he was a teenager. [3]
Carter printed Balancing Act with the help of Alexander Heinrici, a printmaker that also worked on the late work of Andy Warhol. [4] This print is only one of Carter’s many works that were a part of a series that focused on the ovoid symbol. The series began in 1965 with two pieces, Air Chamberand The Planner. [5] As art historian Douglas Dreishpoon writes, “the egg symbolizes everything and nothing, being and becoming; it is a metaphor for life and death, unification and dissolution, spirit and void. Represented as pure light in Carter’s paintings, it signifies a struggle between the random forces of nature and eternal timelessness.” [6] For Carter, the ovoid served as both a spiritual symbol and a physical body, which allowed him to alter its presence and purpose in a number of ways. “By the mid-sixties my work became pure ovoids with collage features,” Carter explained, “One eye appeared often in these collages. These then evolved into a symbol of life and at the same time spirit with a life of their own.” [7]
The inclusion of the ovoid in Balancing Act hints toward a deeper interpretation of Carter’s work. When egg-like shapes assist in the creation of an anthropomorphic form, they suggest the symbolic presence of life. As art critic Ricardo Pau-Llosa has explained, “Behind its static, lifeless shell, an egg hides a life. Hatching is both the instant in which the life appears and the instant in which the integrity of the egg is shattered.” [8] In prints such as Balancing Act, Carter makes apparent his interest in the contradictory status of the egg, a form that sacrifices itself for a new life.
Balancing Act is an ambiguous image of gender. Although not as explicit as his other works in its display of gender roles, the work’s ovoid imagery connects to the maternal associations of birth and fertility. However, no additional representation of the female can be seen in Balancing Act, as the unidentifiable eye is positioned atop a background of blue, a color more commonly understood as a masculine signifier. The title of the work hints toward this juxtaposition of masculine and feminine characteristics, which creates a balance of sorts in the gender of the work itself. The life within the egg might express either male or female traits but chooses to be seen as containing equal parts of both. The work maintains an equilibrium between these representations of contrasting identities, ultimately creating its own individuality by residing in a space between them. This decision can be related to the androgynous sexualities that are expressed by many people, challenging preconceived notions of how gender is recognized by others. Although represented in an abstract way, Carter’s Balancing Act sheds light on important questions about the expression of gender identity through the combination of opposing gender norms.
[1] See, for instance, Carter’s Eschatos series. Frank Anderson Trapp, et. al, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Chesterfield, MA: Chameleon Books, Inc., 1989, pp. 42, 120-123.
[2] Introduction, Exhibition of Paintings by Clarence H. Carter, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, 1940.
[3] Monroe A. Denton, Jr., Some Notes on Clarence Carter, Clarence H. Carter: A retrospective 1927-1978, Allentown, PA: Center for the Arts, 1978.
[4] “Balancing Act, 1978,”Minneapolis Institute of Art, https://collections.artsmia.org/art/98734/balancing-act-clarence-holbrook-carter Accessed March 31,2018. On Heinrici’s work with Warhol, see Studio Visit: Alexander Heinrici, Christie’s, October 17, 2017, http://www.christies.com/features/Alexander-Heinrici-Warhols-screenprinter-8606-3.aspx, Accessed March 31, 2018.
[5] Douglas Dreishpoon, The Middle Years: Between Temporality and Timelessness, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Chesterfield, MA: Chameleon Books, Inc., 1989, p. 37.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Florence M. Hetzler, Clarence Carter: Philosopher and Prophet, Clarence H Carter: A retrospective 1927-1978, Allentown, PA: Center for the Arts, 1978.
[8] Ricardo Pau-Llosa, The Ovoid –Symbol as Structure of Thought, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Chesterfield, MA: Chameleon Books, Inc., 1989, 41.
Author: Darien Pepple - Spring 2018
Clarence Holbrook Carter (1904–2000)
Balancing Act 1976
Lithograph
2003.02.04
This surreal face balances masculine and feminine qualities. Carter often used a single eye to bring his egg-shaped abstractions to life. (This is Not Ideal, Fall 2018)
In Collection
Gift of Paul O. Koether
This is not Ideal: Gender Myths and their Transformation. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh University Art Gallery. 2018. Exhibition catalogue.
Published on the occasion of the student-curated exhibition This is not Ideal: Gender Myths and Their Transformation at the University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, October 26-December 7, 2018.
University Art Gallery. Frick Fine Arts Building, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA 15260
ISBN: 978-1-7329013-0-8
Published on the occasion of the student-curated exhibition This is not Ideal: Gender Myths and Their Transformation at the University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, October 26-December 7, 2018.
University Art Gallery. Frick Fine Arts Building, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA 15260
ISBN: 978-1-7329013-0-8
Please note that cataloging is ongoing and that some information may not be complete.