‘Ted Carey: Queer as Folk’ at Guild Hall

Edward “Ted” Fawcett Carey (1932-1985) is primarily known for his close friendship with Andy Warhol in the 1950s. He later developed a unique mode of painting informed by his strong interest in American folk art.

On Saturday, May 18, Guild Hall opens “Ted Carey: Queer as Folk,” an exhibition organized by independent curator Matthew Nichols, Ph.D. that will remain on view through July 15. Drawn from the Guild Hall permanent collection, this exhibition presents Ted Carey’s art for the first time since 1985, when an East Hampton gallery mounted a memorial show of his paintings following his untimely death from AIDS.

While living and working in East Hampton through the early 1980s, Carey methodically produced a small but coherent body of work that chronicles his personal life and relationships while picturing aspects of gay male identity and subculture. Sharply observed and highly detailed, Carey’s faux-naïf paintings depict some of his favorite haunts in New York City and celebrate the creative achievements of other gay men.

Matthew Nichols earned a B.A. from Vassar College and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where his dissertation examined the queer dimensions of Andy Warhol’s pre-Pop art and career. A specialist in modern and contemporary American art, he taught art history and connoisseurship at Christie’s Education for more than 16 years, where he led the school’s commitment to object-based learning. As an independent curator, he has organized thematic group exhibitions for The Arts Center at Duck Creek, Geary Contemporary, and other venues.

For more information, visit guildhall.org. Guild Hall is at 158 Main Street in East Hampton.