Identical Shapes: Green

This work is part of the Keeper’s House display John Carter RA: In Print, on show in The Belle Shenkman Room from 12 September 2019.

“To me, printmaking has become an adjunct to drawing and another way of expressing my ideas in relation to my three-dimensional work.”
John Carter RA, 2019

John Carter RA is well known for his three-dimensional work: angular, plywood forms which are often described as a “dialogue between painting and sculpture”. His printmaking has a strong relationship with these works, containing all of the signature elements of his practice: mathematical proportions, rotated shapes and flat coloured planes. Chosen for their dynamic composition, the prints selected for In Print range from earlier woodblock prints to more recent screenprints and etchings.

This work is composed of one of the enduring motif’s in Carter’s practice; his ‘Identical Shapes’. To give the squares orientation, they are truncated by cutting off an angle on one side. The new shape can then be rotated or flipped where, unlike a square which appears the same every way up, the orientation of these shapes is clear to see.

In this print the green and black Identical Shapes exist on two parallel planes, both of which follow a pattern potentially extending beyond the edge of the paper. The two types of Identical Shapes interact in some cases fitting together perfectly, in others leaving conspicuous gaps between the forms which creates a tension between the two layers.

Identical Shapes: Green was published by The Friends of Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge and produced at The Print Studio Cambridge.

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The RA Editions programme publishes and showcases prints by Royal Academicians and invited artists. All are available to buy online, from the RA Shop in Gallery X as well as through a series of displays within the Keeper’s House and Burlington Gardens. The programme generates valuable revenue for the RA and, in particular, the RA Schools.

Artist Sales: This work is sold by the artist. The sale is facilitated by RA Enterprises (RAE) for which they receive only a commission from the artist.