BIOGRAPHY

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, 1951

Lives in Aspen, Colorado since 1979

 

EDUCATION

BS in Studio Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1973

MA in Printmaking, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1978

 

HONORS

Aspen Cultural Vibrancy Fellowship, 2023

Juror's Choice Award, Arvada Center for the Arts, "528.0," April, 2020

Aspen Art Museum Fellowship, 2020

Aspen Art Museum, "How does Robert Armstrong's sculpture Relate to the Interstate Highway Sign System," 2019

 

EXHIBITIONS

2025

Arvada Center Galleries, "Art of the State," Arvada, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Roaring Fork Printmaking,"  Curator and Exhibitor, Aspen, CO

Art Base, "Inner Workings," Basalt, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks, Snowmass Village, CO

Aspen Art Museum, "Calligraphy for Skiers," Aspen, CO

Art Base, "Reduction Color Linocut Class," Basalt, CO

Red Brick Art Center, "Reduction Color Linocut Class," Aspen, CO

 

2024

Arvada Center Galleries, "528.0 Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition," Arvada, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "4 Rivers Biennial,"  Aspen, CO

Lincoln Center Galleries, "Under Pressure: 2024 National Juried Printmaking Exhibition," Fort Collins, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Past, Present & Future," Aspen, CO

 

2023

Residences at the Little Nell,  25 commissioned prints, Aspen, CO

Art Base, "10 x 10," Basalt, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2022

Residences at the Little Nell, 26 commissioned prints, Aspen, CO

Spark Gallery, "Reverse Image," Denver, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2021

Aspen City Hall, "Grand Opening Exhibition," Aspen, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Colorado Mountain College, "Pathfinders,"  Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2020

Museum of Art Fort Collins, "Rocky Mountain Biennial," Fort Collins, CO

Arvada Center for the Arts, "528.0," Arvada, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Independence Pass," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks Store, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2019

Red Brick Center for the Arts, "Bauhaus in Aspen," Aspen, CO

Red Brick Center for the Arts, "Landscapes," Aspen, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Flowers," Aspen, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks Store, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2018

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks Store, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2017

The Art Base, "Woodcuts of the Roaring Fork River," Solo exhibition, Basalt, CO

Red Brick Center for the Arts, "Over the Horizon," Aspen, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Something Other," Aspen, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks Store, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2016

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

Anderson Ranch Artworks Store, Snowmass Village, CO

 

2015

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Fresh Air," Aspen, CO

Aspen Chapel Gallery, "Small Wonders," Aspen, CO

 

1993

Mill Street Gallery, "The 10th Mountain Huts," Solo exhibition, Aspen, CO

 

1992

Colorado Ski Museum, "The 10th Mountain Huts," Solo exhibition, Vail, CO

 

1985

Patricia Moore Gallery, "Rocks of the Roaring Fork," Solo exhibition, Aspen, CO

 

REPRESENTATION

Curt 's woodcuts are represented by the Artworks Store at Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass Village, Colorado.

Curt's calligraphy is represented by Drawn Together, NYC, www.drawntogethernyc.com

 

 

PRESS

Appreciating The Surrounding 'Landscapes' At New Red Brick Exhibition

Aspen Public Radio. Christin Kay • January 15, 2019

Local printmaker Captures Roaring Fork River Scenes in Woodcuts. Aspen Public Radio. Claire Woodcock • September 10, 2017

Curt Carpenter Art Talk. The Art Base, Basalt, Colorado • October 12, 2017

 

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

 

Woodcut is a very restrictive art form and I find real freedom in the lack of choices. The characteristics of my woodcuts are simple, blocky, kind of primitive shapes, printed in two colors. The lack of color keeps the images more abstract, less literal, less illustrative, maybe more formal.

 

The technique of woodcut is more like sculpture than painting. It’s reductive, not additive. Instead of adding paint to a white canvas, the printmaker starts with a black block and cuts away the wood to reveal the image. Straight lines and simple shapes are easiest to cut. The image is cut in reverse, the mirror image of the final woodcut. I print on a hand press using Japanese rice paper in additions of 25 to 50 prints.

 

—CURT CARPENTER

January 2026 | Aspen, Colorado