Carter's Essex landscapes illustrate the act of painting as much as they do place. He contends that painting is about illustrating visual observation, which is in itself a process that develops from looking and sketching to painting itself. It is through the process of painting, of coordinating colours and making marks, that the artist's interpretation of space and its visual elements emerges.

Twenty-nine paintings and drawings are presented as series, illustrating how the same view develops from one work to the next. Seen in isolation, his spontaneous sketches, topographic charcoal drawings and incisively coloured paintings reveal how each medium fosters a specific mode of observation.

Carter's paintings derive from nature, transforming sea, sand and sky to reflect our perceptual and psychological experience of the world around us. His work thus lies between figuration and abstraction, illustrating both landscape and the subjectivity of looking.

A fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by Peter Vergo, Emeritus Professor of Art History at the University of Essex (and curator of the Courtauld's recent, acclaimed Egon Schiele show), accompanies the exhibition (£15 + p&p). Please contact Caroline Marciniak (caroline@messums.com) for a PDF version.