Born in 1958, Patterson-Carver's life and career have been shaped by his exposure as a young child to the US civil rights movement. His art and life are now inseparable. Taking a frank look at the political realm, Patterson-Carverʼs work often represents well-known world leaders and people in power as well as ordinary men and women in their desire for change through direct action and demonstrations. The power mongers are mocked through caricature, while ordinary folk are depicted with grace and respect. By giving form to - and poking fun at - the failure of world leadership and the disastrous effects of hypercapitalism, his drawings are a form of sympathetic magic, channeling the desire or power to confront these terrible threats and fears.

Many of Patterson-Carver's drawings are allegories of well-known conspiracy theories. In Supply and Demand (2010) the artist presents a classroom scenario in which the teacher demonstrates the beneficial impact of the US led invasion of Iraq on oil prices to a group of attentive students.

Patterson-Carver's work expresses - both through its mode of address and what it reveals - an essential challenge to the dominant culture. It embodies the very notion of the power of the individual's conscience and witness-bearing, and the continuing belief in art as a means of effecting change.

President Obama, and the racial intolerance from sections of American society he faces, together with the difficult task that lies ahead of him, provides the subject matter for several recent works. In other drawings, the artist himself makes appearances as a lone demonstrator who stands against bigotry and the herd mentality of intransigent religious or political groups.

Michael Patterson Carver was born in 1958 in Chicago, Illinois. His recent locations have included Los Angeles, New Orleans; Baja California, Mexico; San Juan Islands, British Columbia; and Portland, Oregon. Previous exhibitions include Laurel Gitlen, New York (2009); White Columns, New York (2007); Memorial to the Iraq War, with Harrell Fletcher, ICA London (2007). Patterson-Carverʼs work is included in numerous private and public collections, including the American Folk Art Museum, New York, and the Museum of Everything, London. A monograph published by Four Corners Books, with essays by Matthew Higgs and Harrell Fletcher will be available from October 2010.

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