Carter is an internationally known painter, sculptor, photographer and filmmaker based in New York.

He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art, earning a BFA degree in 1992.
In 1994 he studied at The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and in 1997 received an MFA degree from the University of California, Davis.

Carter’s works are included in significant collections around the world and have been exhibited internationally including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Tate Modern, London, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Saatchi Gallery, London, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Royal Academy, London, the Museion in Bolzano, Italy, RISD Museum, Rhode Island, Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, HOTEL Gallery, London, Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, Georg Kargl, Vienna, Marc Jancou, Geneva, Yvon Lambert, Paris, Adrastus Collection, Arévalo, Spain and Salon 94, New York.

In 2013 his first feature film ​Maladies​, featuring Catherine Keener, James Franco, David Strathairn and Alan Cumming was released and screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, SXSW film festival in Austin, TX, The Copenhagen International Film Festival in Denmark and the Berkeley Museum of Art & Pacific Film Archive. In 2009 he wrote and directed the film​ EJF, which was shown at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Tate Modern, London, Cleveland Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Castro Theater, in San Francisco.

A comprehensive catalogue of Carter’s work edited by Georg Kargl was published in 2008 titled, An Arm with Hair, (The Vienna Catalogue 1973) including an interview by Matthew Higgs and an essay by Fiona Liewehr. In 2017 his catalogue American Painting was published featuring works created from the exhibition of the same name.