Montclair native Nanette Carter, an internationally recognized African-American artist, is currently the subject of a major exhibition at the Montclair Art Museum (MAM). Titled “Nanette Carter: A Question of Balance,” the show runs through July 6, 2025, and is her first major museum survey. While the exhibition marks a significant homecoming for the artist, it also delves into the profound abstract collages she creates to grapple with contemporary challenges and the universal human experience of seeking equilibrium in a rapidly changing world.
Born Nanette Carolyn Carter in Columbus, Ohio, in 1954, Carter’s family moved to Montclair, New Jersey, in 1960. She grew up in the town, graduating from Montclair High School. Her upbringing was deeply influenced by her parents’ civic engagement and commitment to social justice. Her father, Matthew G. Carter, served as Montclair’s first African American Mayor from 1972 to 1976, having previously been the Commissioner of Public Works from 1968 to 1972. He was a civil rights leader dedicated to social justice and housing reforms. Her mother, Frances Hill Carter, was an elementary school teacher who later became a reading specialist and Vice Principal. This environment fostered a strong awareness of social and political issues from a young age. Carter noted, “I think a lot of that comes from sitting down at dinner with my parents and hearing them talk about politics…the civil rights movement was being discussed and talked about“.
Carter’s artistic journey began early in Montclair’s public schools, which offered a strong arts program. She recalled the impact of desegregation efforts, noting that when busing began from Upper Montclair to Nishuane School, “our school looked so different”. Her artistic talent was particularly nurtured at Montclair High School, which uniquely offered art instruction that met five days a week. This rigorous program, complete with projects, homework, and critiques, solidified her path. Carter credited this program, stating, “Montclair was one of the few high schools that I know of in the country that when you majored in art, you met five days a week…I think that really just launched my whole feeling about this is where I should be“.
An early pivotal experience occurred around age 14 when, having learned perspective drawing, her mother asked her to design plans for their kitchen renovation. This led to her first commission to design another kitchen, an experience that clarified her artistic direction. She realized the fundamental difference between client-driven design and being a visual artist. She articulated this revelation: “If you’re an architect or an interior designer, the client reigns…If you’re a visual artist, you are your own client…And that just cleared it all for me…I’m going to be a visual artist. That’s it“.
After graduating from Montclair High, Carter pursued a BA in Studio Art and Art History from Oberlin College, including study abroad at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia, Italy. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, in 1978. She later taught drawing at Pratt Institute, where she is a tenured Adjunct Associate Professor, having recently retired after teaching there for 20 years. Prior to Pratt, she taught at the Dwight-Englewood School, where she also helped design a new art facility.
“Montclair was one of the few high schools that I know of in the country that when you majored in art, you met five days a week…I think that really just launched my whole feeling about this is where I should be“.
nanette carter
Carter is widely known for her abstract collages incorporating paper, canvas, and Mylar (archival plastic sheets). Her exploration of Mylar began in 1984 after seeing it used in an exhibition. Her work is recognized for its complex compositions, paintings, and drawings.
“If you’re an architect or an interior designer, the client reigns…If you’re a visual artist, you are your own client…And that just cleared it all for me…I’m going to be a visual artist. That’s it“.
Nanette carter
The “A Question of Balance” exhibition at MAM explores the artist’s long-standing fascination with the tension between instability and equilibrium. Her works from the last 30 years, highlighted in the exhibition along with representative pieces from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, allude to a world impacted by social injustice, political upheaval, and the deluge of information in the digital age. Her powerful abstractions serve as visual metaphors for the burdens contemporary society faces and how we navigate them.
A significant component of the exhibition is the inclusion of site-specific installations directly on the gallery walls. Additionally, the monumental vinyl banner installation “Nanette Carter: Shifting Perspectives” remains on view on the Laurie Art Stairway, unifying the main exhibition with this large-scale mural. This monumental work was adapted from Carter’s oil on Mylar collage, Shifting Perspectives #6 (2024), which is also on view in the Weston Gallery as part of “A Question of Balance”.
Carter’s creative practice is dedicated to exploring intangible ideas around contemporary issues through an abstract vocabulary of form, line, and color. Her work directly responds to themes of war, injustices, and technology. Her series “Afro-Sentinels II” addresses racial injustice with abstract “warrior” figures, while her ongoing series “Cantilevered” becomes a metaphor for 21st-century life and the challenge of balancing responsibilities and a deluge of information. She shared, “this was a wonderful metaphor for living in this millennium, just trying to keep our balance“.
Having her first major museum survey exhibited at the Montclair Art Museum holds special significance for Carter, tying back to her roots and early artistic development in the town that has collected and shown her work since the 1980s. Her work is held in numerous permanent collections globally, including the Studio Museum in Harlem, Yale University Art Gallery, and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, Cuba. “A Question of Balance” allows the Montclair community and beyond to experience the profound evolution and continued relevance of a hometown artist who translates the complexities of modern life into compelling visual narratives.
As Carter reflected on the challenges faced by African Americans throughout history, she noted a sense of resilience and hope: “What my forefathers have gone through was hell…And to say that we are still here“.
