Steve Carr: A Shot in the Dark
13/08/08 - 06/09/08
Preview Wednesday 13/08/08 6-8pm
Michael Lett
478 Karangahape Rd, Auckland
Tuesday - Friday 11am-6pm, Saturday 11am-3pm
Michael Lett is pleased to present A Shot in the Dark, a new exhibition by Steve Carr.
A Shot in the Dark comprises two major new works by Carr - Bear Rug, a carved kauri floor sculpture resembling a bear
pelt complete with taxidermied head, accompanied by The Bachelor, a unique photographic print depicting a large, hairy
male chest with hands positioned to resemble the face of a moose.
Settling somewhere between complex sculptural conundrum and school-yard trick, A Shot in the Dark favours the simple
idea, executed with Carr’s distinctive brand of boyish charm. Both Bear Rug and The Bachelor manipulate their chosen
materials, drawing out both poetic and humorous elements, to question the capacity of the viewer; creating a small, yet
pleasing, rupture in our perception.
Since his first solo exhibition at Michael Lett in 2004, Carr has exhibited extensively both nationally and
internationally. In 2006 Carr staged It Goes Nowhere Like a Rainbow, a solo exhibition at te tuhi, Auckland which later
traveled to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin; participated in A Tale of Two Cities, Busan Biennale, Korea; and
exhibited work in PLAY: Portraiture + Performance in Video Art from Australia + New Zealand at both the Adam Art
Gallery, Wellington, and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Perth. In 2007, Carr exhibited in Prospect,
City Gallery, Wellington; staged a two-person show with Matt Ellwood at Silvershot Gallery, Melbourne; and screened
films at various major institutions throughout New Zealand.
Steve Carr was born in Gore in 1976 and graduated from the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts Masters
Programme in 2003. He was the co-founder of the Blue Oyster gallery in Dunedin and has served as a board member of
Auckland’s Artspace. Carr currently lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand.
ends