Benny Carter (painter)

Binford Taylor Carter, Jr., known as Benny Carter or Bennie Carter, (November 29, 1943 – February 2, 2014) was an American contemporary visual artist. His primary focus was as a painter and sculptor within the genres of folk art and outsider art.

Benny Carter
Photo of Carter taken by Carol M. Highsmith at his home studio in Rockingham County, North Carolina
Born
Binford Taylor Carter, Jr.

(1943-11-29)November 29, 1943
High Point, North Carolina
United States
Died2 February 2014(2014-02-02) (aged 70)
Mayodan, North Carolina
United States
Resting placeSardis Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
Madison, North Carolina
EducationMadison-Mayodan High School
Occupationartist
Spouse(s)Teressa Lynn Craddock
Parent(s)Binford Taylor Carter, Sr. (father)
Mary Sue Young (mother)

Early life and family

Binford Taylor Carter, Jr. was born in High Point, North Carolina on November 29, 1943 to Binford Taylor Carter, Sr. and Mary Sue Young.[1] He grew up in Madison. His paternal grandparents, Yancey Ligon Carter and Mary Elizabeth Morton, were prominent tobacco farmers in Rockingham County. Carter is a descendant of the colonist Thomas Carter, a Puritan minister of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[2] A branch of the Carter family later moved to the south and became planters in Rockingham County.[3] Carter was a first cousin of photographer Carol M. Highsmith and journalist Linda Carter Brinson, and a nephew of Lieutenant-Colonel James Pratt Carter.[4] He was raised in the Baptist faith. He graduated from Madison-Mayodan High School in 1962.[5] After finishing school, Carter worked as a supervisor at Halstead Metal Products in Pine Hall.[6]

The Carter Family Homeplace, on the family's plantation in Wentworth, where Carter's grandfather was born.

Career

Carter, who was suffering from depression, began painting in 1991 after he lost his job at Halstead Metal Products due to a layoff.[7] A self-trained artist, he painted mainly in the contemporary style and has been classified as a folk and outsider artist.[8] The subjects of his work included waterfront landscapes, Biblical stories, and farm landscapes. Carter also designed birdhouses, clocks, totems, and metal sculptures.[6][7] His later work featured paintings of New York City imagery including skylines, taxi cabs, and the Statue of Liberty.[9][10] He created a collection of work depicting New York City after the September 11 attacks, featuring scenes of the attack and memorials to the victims.[11] Carter's work was influenced by his Baptist upbringing, including a painting that depicted Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton as Adam and Eve, and a series of portraits depicting Jesus as African-American.[11] He also painted a series of portraits depicting the Statue of Liberty as an African-American woman.[11][12]

Carter's work has been displayed in the American Visionary Art Museum, the Virginia Museum of Natural History, the Palmer Museum of Art, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. His work was documented in the books Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art by Betty-Carol Sellen and Cynthia J. Johnson, American Folk Art: A Regional Reference by Kristin G. Congdon and Kara Kelley Hallmark, and Light of the Spirit: Portraits of Southern Outsider Artists by Karekin Goekjian and Robert Peacock.[6][11]

Later life and death

Carter was married to Teressa Lynn Craddock and lived in Mayodan, North Carolina.[11] He attended Good News Baptist Church in Madison.

He died on February 2, 2014 at his home in Mayodan.[13] A funeral service was held at Sardis Primitive Baptist Church in Madison on February 22, 2014.[14] He was buried in the Sardis Church Cemetery.[15]

On May 9, 2014 his estate was auctioned off.[8]

References
  1. "Binford "Benny" Carter — 1943-2014". Detour Art. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  2. Carter, Howard Williston (1994). Carter, a genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Carter of Reading and Weston, Mass., and of Hebron and Warren, Ct. Also some account of the descendants of his brothers, Eleazer, Daniel, Ebenezer and Ezra, sons of Thomas Carter and grandsons of Rev. Thomas Carter, first minister of Woburn, Massachusetts, 1642. Salem, Massachusetts: Higginson Book Co.
  3. King, Nancy Webster (1983). "The Carter Family". The Heritage of Rockingham County, North Carolina, 1983. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Rockingham County Historical Society in cooperation with Hunter Publishing Company. p. 205. ISBN 0-89459-212-2.
  4. Highsmith, Carol M. (1980). "Folk artist Bennie Carter (1st cousin of photographer Carol M. Highsmith) amid some of his creations outside his home, Rockingham County, North Carolina". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  5. "Benny Carter - Artist, Fine Art Prices, Auction Records for Benny Carter". askart.com.
  6. "CARTER, Binford Taylor, Jr". Winston-Salem Journal.
  7. Allen, Mike. "Art houses series: A place to sell art and a place to sleep". Roanoke Times.
  8. Barnhardt, Myla (May 18, 2014). "Somewhere in folk artist heaven, Benny Carter is all smiles". Greensboro News and Record.
  9. "Benny Carter". colonialfolkart.com.
  10. "2007 Eyeopener Tour". www.narrowlarry.com. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  11. Congdon, Kristin G.; Hallmark, Kara Kelley (19 March 2012). "American Folk Art: A Regional Reference [2 volumes]: A Regional Reference". ABC-CLIO – via Google Books.
  12. "RoGallery Benny Carter, The Big Apple, Oil Painting from Houzz - People". people.com.
  13. "Benny Carter". Small Museum of Folk Art.
  14. "CARTER, Binford". Winston-Salem Journal.
  15. "CARTER, BINFORD". Greensboro News and Record.
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