Carlton Newton’s interest in science, nature and technology weaves itself into his Sumi ink drawings on paper which render imagined subjects both organic and manufactured. His precise black forms appear specimen-like; self-contained clumps of undulating lines and intertwined structures contrast a pristine white background as though laid out for careful study and inspection. These drawings act as studies of potential and completed three-dimensional objects, which mimic natural forms and allude to the cyclical nature of the world. The drawings further communicate Newton’s themes of life, reinvention and capacity.
Newton currently lives and works in Richmond, VA. After teaching appointments at the College of William and Mary and Princeton University Newton joined Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts where from 1987 to 2017 he served in several key teaching and leadership capacities for the Department of Sculpture and Extended Media. Newton received both his BFA and MFA degrees in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been exhibited at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and 1708 Gallery in Richmond, Richmond; Danese/Corey Gallery and the New Museum in New York; the Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, D.C.; Aqua Art Miami, Florida; the Paule Anglim Gallery, Atholl McBean Gallery, and the South of Market Cultural Center in San Francisco; the Peruvian North American Cultural Institute, Lima, Peru; and the Keith Talent Gallery, London, England. He is the recipient of the VCU School of the Arts Faculty Achievement Award of Excellence, an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, an Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, an Honorarium from the New York State Council on the Arts through the New Museum, and a residency in Captiva, Florida from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Newton’s work is included in the collections of several major corporations including Markel, Altria, and Dominion Energy.
