Benny Carter Saw - "Hell is a Hell of a Place" (1993)

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Fine Antiquities, Asian, Ethno, Fine Art

By Artemis Fine Arts

May 1, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-05-01 10:00:00 2025-05-01 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities, Asian, Ethno, Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-asian-ethno-fine-art-19334
Showcasing an extraordinary array of artifacts and art, including Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Asian, Pre-Columbian, Native American, Tribal, Oceanic, Spanish Colonial treasures, fossils, fine and visual arts, and more! All ancient items are ethically sourced and legally available for sale. Enjoy the ease of in-house shipping for a seamless experience! Artemis Fine Arts info@artemisfinearts.com

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• Lot Description
  Binford Taylor Carter, Jr. known as Benny Carter or Bennie Carter (American, 1943-2014). Hand-painted saw, 1993. Signed at lower left. Also signed and dated on the verso. A hand-painted saw by self-taught folk/outsider artist Benny Carter. Carter has painted a myriad of spooky skulls and expressive faces likely representing lost souls against a red and black background representing hell, with text that reads, "YOU MAY SAW YOUR WAY OUT OF JAIL BUT YOU WANT SAW IT OUT OF HELL / HELL IS A HELL OF A PLACE" Size: 36" L x 6.5" W (91.4 cm x 16.5 cm)
  
  Binford Taylor Carter, Jr. was born in High Point, North Carolina, on November 29, 1943, to Binford Taylor Carter, Sr. and Mary Sue Young. He grew up in Madison with his sister, Rebecca. 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. A branch of the Carter family later moved to the south and became planters, owning the Carter Plantation near Wentworth in Rockingham County. Carter was a first cousin of photographer Carol M. Highsmith and journalist Linda Carter Brinson, and a nephew of Lieutenant-Colonel James Pratt Carter. He was raised in the Baptist faith. He graduated from Madison-Mayodan High School in 1962. After finishing school, Carter worked as a supervisor at Halstead Metal Products in Pine Hall.
  
  Carter, who was suffering from depression, began painting in 1991 after he lost his job at Halstead Metal Products due to a layoff. A self-trained artist, he painted mainly in the contemporary style and has been classified as a folk and outsider artist. The subjects of his work included waterfront landscapes, Biblical stories, and farm landscapes. Carter also designed birdhouses, clocks, totems, and metal sculptures. His later work featured paintings of New York City imagery including skylines, taxi cabs, and the Statue of Liberty. 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. 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. He also painted a series of portraits depicting the Statue of Liberty as an African-American woman.
  
  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. Johanson, 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.
  
  Provenance: private Rochester, Minnesota, USA collection, acquired from 1990 -1998
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
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  #192072

  Condition

  Excellent. Signed at lower left. Also signed and dated on the verso. Folk Art seller stamp on verso.
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