Title: Holding Venus
Publisher: Arena Editions, Santa Fe, NM
Publication Date: 2000
Binding: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
A clean very good copy in boards with a with a black and white plate affixed to the front board but with some of the usual flaking to the letters on the spine. No dust jacket as issued. Some shelf wear. Some scuffing to cover. Slight softening to corners.
In his most recent series, Holding Venus, Keith Carter continues to explore what he has referred to as the poetry of the ordinary, that moment of transcendence when the commonplace becomes the extraordinary. Myth and metaphor form the foundation of Carters imagery, which transforms the literal into the symbolic. In this sense, the notion of holding Venus remarks upon the connection between the earthly and the celestial at the same time that it attests to the fundamental human aspiration to realize that which is seemingly unattainable.
While his early work concentrated on evoking a sense of place and spirit in his native East Texas, Carter has more recently turned his distinct perspective outward, photographing in Italy, France, England, and elsewhere. Yet, he approaches his subject matter with humor and celebration and with a probing eye for the human spirit, regardless of time and place. Often, his subjects are merely apparitions, whose forms are slightly obscured by opt! ical distortions. The imagery of Carters enigmatic worldexplores the mythological, the surreal, and the intangible that infuse everyday rituals and moments.
A poet of the ordinary. Los Angeles Times
Keith Carters photographsare united by an uncommonly penetrating sensibility. They are works of endearingly human dimension. New York Times
Keith Carter has taken his camera abroad and found new material for his increasingly mythic vision. Art News
About the Author:
Keith Carter lives in Beaumont, Texas where he holds the Walles Chair of Art at Lamar University. His work is included in many public collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. His previous publications include From Uncertain to Blue (1988), The Blue Man (1990), Mojo (1992/1995), Heaven of Animals (1995), Bones (1996), and Keith Carter: Twenty-Five Years (1997).
John Wood is the author of several prize-winning books of poetry and photographic criticism, including the recently released Selected Poems 1968-1998. His essays on a wide variety of subjects have appeared in many books and journals. Wood is the editor of 21st: The Journal of Contemporary Photography.