Tom Carr (artist)

Tom Carr (born Tarragona, 1956) is a contemporary artist. Lives and works at Sant Quirze del Vallès.Professor at the Escola Massana de Barcelona, and has taught courses for the School of Visual Arts (SVA) of New York

biography

His mother was from Valencia and his father was American. From the age of one until he was seventeen Tom lived in American university communities except for one year in Spain when he was five and learned more Spanish at a convent school. After finishing high school in the United States, he returned to Spain to study Fine Arts.

art

beginning

Although he graduated with painting as his specialty, he has always been attracted by the tridimensional, natural and architectural space, and sculpture. Hence the concepts of space plus time have been from the beginning constant references in his work, such as the installation for the "Espai 10" of the "Miró Foundation" in 1981. With that work he began what would be a constant in all his work: the expression of a maximum with a minimum of elements--what Giralt Miracle was to call "Spatial Minimal". The material was stretched cloth, string and painted sticks; later on there would be shadows ("Posiciones relatives", Galeria Metrònom", 1983), light reflected with mirrors ("Continuum espacial", Galeria 13, Joan Prats, Instituteo de Estudios Norteamericanos, Galeria Maeght", 1984) and slide projections: over facades of churches (Cadaqués, the Seu Vella of Lerida); in interiors ("Cripsis", Museo de la Ciencia, and Capella, Sala Moncada of the Caixa in Barcelona and Catedral", also in the Seu of Lérida); over small objects ("Natura Morta", Museu d’Art of Sabadell, "En tres dimensiones", Fundación la Caixa in Madrid, and "Trigon" in Graz").

After 1983 he began developing simultaneously, in addition to such installations, scuptural work based on architectonic, stereotyped forms: towers, stairways, arches, ziggurats, walls…utilizing wood which he then painted ("Gamarra and Garrigues, Madrid, 1986; Pro Arte, Freiburg; Pierre Huber, Geneva, 1987; Hans Barlach, Cologne; Krief, Paris; y Vorstadt, Basel, 1987"). The formats for these works ranged from a small piece of six centimeters to 12 meters ("Long Red Wall" Museo de Alava"). Later in Venice he built "Una Opera" in painted wood 360 x 820 x 670 centimeters which is now in a private collecion in Florence. These forms were also used for outdoor sculptures. The first was installed in 1987 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento of Sant Boi del Llobregat, and others in the gardens of the Palace of the Magdalena in Santander, in Pontevedra, and at the Miró Foundation of Barcelona.

At a new stage the forms simplify to form; disks, cylinders, polygons, star shapes, helicoids, and spirals which tend to approach the realm of the symbolic to express elements of the world of the spirit: time, being, center, and these were represented in the Gallery Baudoin Lebon in Paris, the Salvador Riera in Barcelona, the Jan Baum in Los Angeles, and the Museu de la Pasión in Valladolid. Public sculptures of this stage include: "Punta de Terradets" in Pallars Jussá, "Open" in ORF Landestudios Steiermark, and, "Cylinder" in Barcelona (Vila Olímpic). This stage culminates with a work of great dimensions ("Seed and Helix" ) which meant a complicated construction requiring two years of work and a numerous team of collaborators.

Afterwards, his work on the theme of time relating to fire and water comes together in two emblematic exhibits: "Ignis et Tempus" in Graz (CC Galerie) and "Aqua et Tempus" in Tarragona (Museo de Arte Moderno).

Later he presented "Cyclus" at the Centro de Arte Santa Mónica in Barcelona, an installation based on the wheel of time and its correspondences and also an urban project that will "tack" different places to one geographic center.

In 2002 "“Cycle et coincidence”" was the title given to his show at the, Museé d’Art Moderne de Céret, Céret, France.

present

More recently, Carr has been working on and completing permanent outdoor projects. One example is "Panta Rei" consisting of polished stainless steel, mast/wind vane and elements on the facades of the buildings on the block of the school, Frederic Mistral - Tècnic Eulàlia de Sarriá in Barcelona in 2005. Another example is the fisrt phase of "Principium", Concept of the visualization of entrance area axis of Illa Fantasia at the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain 2006: The shapes, size and orientation of the canvases, railings, bathrooms and floor designs, and all color patterns are designed by Tom Carr.

Also during 2007, he showed a project named "“from the imperfect garden”" consisting of painted wood and string structures and digital prints on canvas at the Galeria Astarté, Madrid; Galería Sala Maior, Porto, Portugal; Studio Franck Bordas, Paris; the Alliance Française, Sabadell and the Galerie Bartha & Sernaclens in Geneva.

In 2007 Tom Carr installed the permanent outdoor sculpture group "“I by Numbers”", which has subject is the individuals reading and assimilating art, at Museé d’Art Moderne de Céret, Céret, France.

Public and outdoor works

PRINCIPIUM "(first phase)" Concept of the visualization of entrance area axis of Illa Fantasia: shapes, size and orientation of the canvases, railings, bathrooms and floor designs, and all color patterns. Floor area, 3500 square meters. Heigth of canvases 15 m. Illa Fantasia, Maresme, Catalonia, 2006

PANTA REI polished stainless steel, mast/wind vane and elements on the facades of the buildings on the block of the school, Frederic Mistral - Tècnic Eulàlia de Sarrià, Barcelona, 2005

PEEP-WHEEL painted stainless steel, diameter 800 cm. x 200 cm., r2 M-50, Madrid, 2004

AQUA et SOL continuous pavement at their pools, Waterworld, Lloret de Mar, 2003

OPEN II painted steel, 600 x 360 x 515 cm., Österreichischer Skulpturenpark (Austrian Scupture Park), Graz, Austria, 2003

ENTRADA continuous pavement at the entrance at Aqua Diver, Platja d’Aro, 2003

PISCINA A L‘INVERS installation in a restaurant at Waterworld, Lloret de Mar, 2003

DUC polished stainless steel and black granite, Sant Quirze del Vallès, 2003

CONTINUUM polished and painted stainless steel, 15.00 x 4 x 4 cm central element and the rest are variable sizes. Municipality of Sant Quirze del Vallès, Barcelona and Antilla, Cuba, 2002

PRISMA polished stainless steel, 45.2 x 250 x 45.2 cm, Private residence, Col·lecció Fontana Destriuex, Tarragona 2000

CYLINDER 1992 polished stainless steel, 99 x 99 x 45 cm, Jardins del Camp Nou, Futbol Club Barcelona 1999

SEED & HELIX painted stainless steel and water, 3900 x 1900 x 1900 cm, Société Générale headquarters, La Defense, Paris 1995

WIND painted metal, 200 x 200 x 870 cm, Sony Electronics Company Headquarters, San Jose California 1993

CYLINDER painted metal, 400 x 400 x 1095 cm, Villa Olímpica, Barcelona 1992

PUNTA DE TERRADETS polished stainless steel and water, 1800 x 300 x 275 cm, Pas de Terradets, Pallars Jussá, Spain 1992

OPEN painted metal, 660 x 360 x 515 cm, ORF Landestudios Steiermark, Graz, Austria 1991

AGULLA painted cement, 1200 x 150 x 150 cm, Jardí d’escultures, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona 1990

ARC DE TRIOMF painted metal, 700 x 1400 x 370 cm, Milenario de Cataluña, Solsona, Spain 1989

ENTRADA painted cement and projected light sometimes at night, 750 x 1050 x 450 cm, Moll de la Costa, Tarragona 1989

MIRADOR granite, 360 x 800 x 160 cm, Paseo de la Alameda, Pontevedra 1988

SIN TITULO painted metal, 500 x 650 x 1300 cm, Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, jardines del palacio de la Magdalena, Santander 1988

HOMENATGE A LA UNITAT EUROPEA reinforced cement and refractory clays, 750 x 350 x 350 cm, Plaça de l’Ajuntament, Sant Boi de Llobregat 1987

Published books

Tom Carr, du jardin imparfait (2007) "editions Bartha & Senarclens, Genève Switzerland." Text by Françoise Barbe-Gall, 47 pp. ISBN 978-2-9700578-1-9

Versus, Tom Carr (2003) "Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid Spain." Text by Françoise Barbe-Gall, 160 pp. ISBN 84-9718-195-6.

Tom Carr, Cycle et Coïncidence (2002) "Musée d’art moderne Céret, Céret, France." Texts by Françoise Barbe-Gall and Christine Buci-Glucksmann, 104 pp. ISBN 2-901298-39-7.

Tom Carr, Orbis (2000) "Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Cultura y Actar, Barcelona Spain." Texts by Joan-Francesc Ainaud, Sylvie Boulanger, Vicenç Altaió. 160 pp. ISBN 84-95273-41-1.

External links

* [http://web.mac.com/tomcarr1/ Artist's official site]

Galleries

* [http://theartobserver.com/index.php The Art Observer]
* [http://www.bartha-senarclens.ch/ Galerie Bartha & Sernaclens, Génève]
* [http://www.musee-ceret.com/ Musée d’art moderne de Céret]
* [http://franckbordas.online.fr/ Studio Franck Bordas]
* [http://www.galeriaastarte.com/pages/artista/15 Galería Astarté]