Carter. Leg Opens Door / 1963

Carter, Erased James Franco, 2008, film, 65 minutes in length Constant (James Franco as inanimate object) is a 16 mm color film with two sequence shots. The first shot is of a leg, almost an exact replica of American artist Robert Gober’s leg sculptures, while the second shows American actor James Franco (famous for his roles in such films as James Dean, Pineapple Express and the Spider-Man franchise) lying on the floor with what appears to be an amputated leg. These two shots represent one scene separated by a wall. A great admirer of Gober, it is the artist’s response to wondering what might be happening on the other side of a "wall". Accompanying the films are leg sculptures that the artist has made from casts created directly from Franco’s legs.

Erased James Franco is a 65 minute color film made at Yvon Lambert Paris in July 2008. For the film Carter approached Franco about reenacting scenes from previous films in his œuvre but to revisit these scenes with restraint. At no point is Franco given the opportunity to delve deeply into any one character. Instead Carter directs Franco to use a flat voice and limit his instinctual movement during the filming of each scene. Carter describes his direction as “artificially relaxed - to withhold James' natural ability to act …” which gives the film a muted quality.

Together the artist and actor constructed a performance that had more levels than simple mimetic acting, enhanced by the idea that scenes were performed one after the other, often in the same take. This succession of characters leaves the viewer with a sense of oncoming schizophrenia. During the filming Franco is reliving multiple past identities, something that the actor describes in later interviews as giving him real ownership over those characters. To further deepen the performance Carter directs Franco to play the role of actress Julianne Moore in the Todd Haynes film, Safe and as the closeted, gay actor Rock Hudson in his roll from the 1966 film Seconds. Both films have been described as psychological dramas whose themes are erasure and loss of identity.

Yvon Lambert Paris is pleased to announce its first solo exhibition of American artist Carter. The exhibition will take place from October 21st through December 6th. For this exhibition Carter has created all new works including two 16 mm films, sculptures and paintings. The exhibition will open on October 21st with a reception for the artist from 6 to 9pm.

Carter (born 1970) has exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London as part of the exhibition USA Today, White Columns in New York and the University of Illinois in Chicago. He was also selected for the 2006 Whitney Biennial Day For Night and was chosen by curator Matthew Higgs for inclusion in the exhibition Dereconstruction at Barbara Gladstone in New York.

The title of Carter's film comes from Erased De Kooning by Robert Rauschenberg and follows the same concept of re-living something by deleting it. The film is a building up and a tearing down of Franco’s career up until this point and through an amalgamation of past performances, the artist creates a new and jarring narrative.

Carter. Leg Opens Door / 1963

Vernissage le mardi 21 octobre