At 71 years old, Nanette Carter remains a pioneering force in Black abstract art, continuously pushing boundaries with her experimental approach to materials and forms. The veteran artist is currently preparing for a major solo exhibition at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, where her innovative steel sculptures will debut alongside her signature Mylar-based abstractions. Carter's journey began with a revelatory high school field trip to the Guggenheim Museum in 1971, where she witnessed Piet Mondrian's retrospective spiraling through the museum's galleries.
"It was a flash that someone could change so drastically and create a type of art that no one had ever seen before," Carter reflected during an interview in her Washington Heights studio, where she has worked since 1981. Her workspace tells the story of her restless artistic practice, with rolls of Mylar polyester film leaning against walls, metal and wood reliefs mounted in hallways, and half-erased pencil sketches covering surfaces as she maps out complex abstract forms.
Carter's studio contains reminders of her evolving career spanning decades, from ambitious abstractions created at the Triangle Workshop in 1991 to small ceramic sculptures called "Cheeks" that she made as a teenager in the late 1960s and early 1970s at Montclair High School in New Jersey. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Carter recalls feeling pleased when her parents moved to New Jersey, particularly because of its proximity to New York City. "Just going into the city opened my eyes up," she said.
Her family background provided both inspiration and support for her artistic development. Carter's father, Matthew G. Carter, was a prominent civil rights leader who later became the town's first Black mayor, while her mother encouraged her creativity from an early age. "I didn't write a note," Carter joked about the vibrant colored stationery her mother gave her. "I was collaging with the paper and giving it to friends—these were geometric abstractions. They loved it."
A pivotal moment came during the summer of 1977 while Carter was pursuing her MFA at Pratt Institute. Working at the Guild Hall museum in East Hampton, she met painter Al Loving at an opening. "This tall, handsome Black man, and we saw each other and just gravitated immediately," she recalled. Loving, known for his amorphous, color-clashing wall works, became a mentor who profoundly influenced Carter's approach and introduced her to artists like Jack Whitten and Ed Clark.
Through Loving's connections, Carter met legendary dealer George N'Namdi in Detroit, who gave her a solo show in 1984. By her late twenties, she had exhibited alongside some of the most prominent Black abstract expressionists, including Whitten, Clark, and Howardena Pindell. "I like to say: I come from the school of Loving," Carter explained, acknowledging her mentor's lasting influence on her artistic development.
Carter's signature material, Mylar, entered her practice unexpectedly during a visit to a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt in 1983. "I didn't know what that was," she recalled about first encountering the industrial polyester film. Curious about its potential, she immediately bought a sheet, cut it down, and began experimenting. "It was just a wonderful, smooth sensation drawing on it," she discovered.
That initial sheet led to decades of engagement with the material. Carter now sources Mylar in massive rolls measuring 53 inches by 100 yards, relishing its versatility and possibilities. "It's just magical stuff," she said. The tough, stiff material enables her to create complex, colorful abstractions with immediacy and precision. However, Carter insists her works transcend simple collage techniques. "I am not collaging. I'm building architecture on the ladder," she emphasized.
One of Carter's most powerful and politically resonant bodies of work, the "Afro Sentinels" series, emerged from the charged political climate of the late 2000s. Witnessing vocal criticism of President Barack Obama and fearing for his safety, Carter conceived these works as protective guardians. "I thought, sentinels. We need something to protect Black people from this kind of nonsense," she explained. Initially conceived as individual guardians, the works evolved over time into army-like formations.
The current "Afro Sentinels" exhibition at the Wexner Center, running through January 11, 2026, showcases this evolution. "Afro Sentinels 3" (2024) presents 14 Mylar-based, 8-foot-tall abstractions resembling weapons arranged across the wall. Carter drew inspiration from diverse sources, including power figures from the Congo studded with nails to ward off disease and safeguard communities, as well as the Terracotta Army guarding the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor.
"I wanted to come off the wall for years," Carter revealed as she prepared for the Columbus installation. The exhibition marks a significant milestone by debuting her first freestanding "Afro Sentinels" steel sculptures alongside her signature wall-based abstractions. This represents the culmination of a remarkably active period for the artist, following a retrospective at the Montclair Art Museum earlier this year and solo shows at New York's Berry Campbell Gallery in 2022 and 2024.
Throughout her five-decade career, Carter has consistently drawn inspiration from the world around her while addressing themes of justice, community, and contemporary turbulence. Her "Illumination" series (1984-86) emerged from her first trip to Rio de Janeiro, incorporating bright colors evocative of the city's Carnival festivities. More recent series like "Shifting Perspectives" and "Destabilizing," some featured in the Wexner exhibition, respond to violence, political upheaval, and the invasive presence of media in everyday life.
"Shifting Perspectives 8" (2022) exemplifies Carter's approach to addressing social issues through abstraction, setting jagged bands of blue, black, and gray into precarious alignment. The composition evokes fractures of social unrest while insisting on balance and harmony. Her "Cantilevered" series, also represented at the Wexner Center, explores the delicate balance between weight and suspension, serving as metaphors for societal tensions.
While destabilizing forces often catalyze her work, Carter's abstractions simultaneously search for equilibrium and resolution. She views her abstract forms as vehicles for communicating political thought to diverse, universal audiences. "I can [communicate through] this abstract form and really give a universal language to people," Carter explained, emphasizing art's power to transcend cultural and linguistic barriers.
As Carter continues to confront what she calls "the seismic changes of the past decade," her transition into three-dimensional work reflects her ongoing evolution as an artist. Her new steel sculptures represent more than formal experimentation; they embody her desire for physical presence and protection in increasingly turbulent times. "I want that presence now—that physicality," she emphasized, suggesting that her "Afro Sentinels" serve as enduring monuments of resilience.
For fifty years, Carter has demonstrated that abstraction can be both politically urgent and deeply human, challenging assumptions about the relationship between formal innovation and social engagement. With her new three-dimensional "Afro Sentinels," she transforms her iconic forms into powerful guardians, creating art that responds to contemporary challenges while drawing from rich historical and cultural traditions. As social and political pressures continue to intensify, Carter's work stands as testament to art's capacity to provide both protection and hope.
