“I have this situation where my work is too spiritual for a gallery and too controversial for a church.”
Eric Carson, Bay Area resident and fine artist, challenges audiences with a collection of work that taps into traditional art practices, such as mandalas and illuminated manuscripts. Pulling together modern political and religious symbols, Carson beckons dialogue and controversy by pitting Western and Eastern traditions against one another in beautiful tapestries of meaning he calls “cosmographs,” eliciting new “constellations of meaning in a post-internet era.”
Carson believes that technology and social media users have developed a new skill to navigate the modern world: an ability to ingest vast amounts of information rapidly that he calls “visual hyper-literacy.” He harnesses this skill to propose challenges to our thinking and personal awareness with images ranging from St. Peter’s Basilica to the bombing of Hiroshima.
From May 17 through May 21, Carson unveiled a three-story hand-painted mandala at the Master’s of Fine Art exhibition at the Mint in downtown San Francisco. As a recent recipient of a master’s degree in fine art, Carson’s work was a literal centerpiece at the historic San Francisco treasury, on display for thousands of attendees to contemplate about.
Carson is currently teaching in the San Francisco Art Institute’s Young Artist Program, challenging new generations to stir the minds of the world.
To test your chops at visual hyper-literacy: view Carson’s recent work on display at Hang Art gallery in San Francisco through May 2018, or visit his website — but get ready to have not only your neurons tested at the speed of technology, but your beliefs as well.
HANG ART
Featuring the works of Eric Carson
June 2017 through May 2018
567 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California 94102
