Nanette Carter, an abstract artist working since the 1970s, will present her solo exhibition *Nanette Carter: Afro Sentinels* at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, opening August 22. The show includes a new three-dimensional metal commission, marking her first move off the wall, alongside collages, paintings, and sculptures that explore themes of balance, Black subjectivity, and political turmoil. Carter, born in Columbus in 1956, studied at Oberlin College and the Pratt Institute, where she taught for 20 years, and her work draws on jazz, Russian Constructivism, and her father's civil rights legacy.
The exhibition matters because it represents a homecoming for Carter and a timely exploration of how abstract art can address contemporary crises like climate change, pandemics, and state-sanctioned violence. By titling the show 'Afro Sentinels'—imagined protectors of Black interests—Carter positions her practice as a counterweight to societal instability, demonstrating that abstraction remains a powerful vehicle for urgent social and political commentary. The commission also signals a significant evolution in her practice, expanding her decades-long experimentation with Mylar into three dimensions.