Local Art Alert: Nanette Carter

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It – "Local Art Alert: Nanette Carter"

Episode Details:

• Title: Local Art Alert: Nanette Carter
• Host: Alison Stewart
• Release Date: July 3, 2025
• Duration: Approximately 12 minutes

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Introduction to the Episode

In this episode of All Of It, hosted by Alison Stewart on WNYC, the spotlight shines on Nanette Carter, a prominent local artist whose exhibition “A Question of Balance” is currently on display at the Montclair Art Museum until July 6th. The show emphasizes Montclair's vibrant art scene and highlights the upcoming centennial project, 100 Pieces of Art, encouraging listeners to explore notable artworks in the area.

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Nanette Carter: An Artistic Journey

Early Influences and Beginnings

Nanette Carter begins by reflecting on her early influences, particularly her mother, a dancer and costume designer. “I'm three or four years old and I was fascinated by all the beautiful fabrics and stuff,” she shares (02:09). This early exposure fostered her creative spirit, leading her to consider various artistic paths, including architecture and interior design, before committing to making art.

Mentorship and Inspiration

In her twenties, Carter encountered Alvin Loving, an influential African American artist and the first to exhibit at the Whitney in 1969. She credits Loving with opening doors for her career and inspiring her creative process. “He was the first African American artist to exhibit at the Whitney, 1969. Fabulous person, just generous, wonderful,” she recalls (03:00).

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Montclair: The Artistic Hub

Growing up in Montclair played a crucial role in Carter's artistic development. The community's rich artistic environment, combined with the resources of the Montclair Art Museum, provided her with a robust foundation. Carter highlights the exceptional public schools and comprehensive art programs she experienced in the late '60s and early '70s, which included diverse mediums like etchings, silkscreens, oil painting, photography, and ceramics (03:45).

Carter notes, “Montclair was very much my time of development, my time of research, my time of trying to figure out again, do I want to go into, you know, architecture?” (04:11).

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Artistic Process and Style

Creating Collages:

Carter delves into her process of creating collages, explaining how she manages multiple pieces simultaneously. “I work normally with three to four pieces at a time,” she explains (06:08). This approach allows her to draw inspiration across different works, informing her creative decisions dynamically.

She discusses the evolution of her technique, mentioning how collaboration between her intellect and emotions guides her hand, leading to a more cohesive and fluid creation process over time. “There’s an inner kind of dialogue that’s going on all the time between your brain and your heart and, I guess, and your hands also,” Carter shares (06:53).

Embracing Experimentation:

Carter emphasizes the importance of experimentation in her artistic journey, particularly during her graduate studies at Pratt Institute. An evocative memory of a winter night in Brooklyn inspired her to mimic the silhouette of leafless trees in her etchings. Frustrated with the rigidity of producing identical prints, she pioneered collage techniques for her thesis, embracing the physicality and layered texture it offered. “I began to collage. I began to tear them up and basically just sort of deconstruct and then reconstruct something new,” she recounts (09:20).

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Current Exhibition: "A Question of Balance"

Exhibition Overview:

Nanette Carter's exhibition, “A Question of Balance,” features 46 works spanning from 1971 to 2024. The collection includes a small black wax pencil on paper piece titled “Eggs and Basket” and the expansive “Afrocentennials,” an 8 x 33ft site-specific installation of Sentinels.

Heritage and Community:

A significant aspect of the exhibition is the homage to her heritage. Displayed prominently is a 2012 magazine cover featuring her father, Matthew G. Carter, Montclair's first black mayor and a civil rights leader. This inclusion underscores the intersection of personal history and communal identity within her art.

Carter states, “I love the physicality of it also. But that’s where it started,” referring to her love for collage (09:54).

Large-Scale Works:

Carter discusses her affinity for large-scale works, appreciating how expansive walls transform into her canvases. The ability to manipulate space and scale invigorates her creative process. “You know, I love the fact that the wall becomes your format,” she explains (10:01).

Thanks to Pratt Institute's support, Carter has access to gallery spaces like DeKalpaul Gallery, where she assembles and organizes her large installations, allowing her to experiment with placement and composition in a professional setting.

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Upcoming Conversations and Future Episodes

Towards the end of the episode, Alison Stewart previews the next segment featuring Jesse Crime, a formerly incarcerated artist whose clandestine art activities in prison have led to his work being displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Additionally, Crime has recently established a new center for art and advocacy in Bedford-Stuyvesant, highlighting ongoing discussions about art’s role in social justice and rehabilitation.

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Conclusion

This episode of All Of It offers an intimate glimpse into Nanette Carter's artistic evolution, her deep-rooted connection to Montclair’s art community, and the intricate processes behind her compelling works. Carter's narrative underscores the profound interplay between personal heritage, community support, and creative experimentation, culminating in an exhibition that celebrates both individual expression and collective cultural identity.

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Notable Quotes:

• “I'm three or four years old and I was fascinated by all the beautiful fabrics and stuff.” – Nanette Carter (02:09)
• “He was the first African American artist to exhibit at the Whitney, 1969. Fabulous person, just generous, wonderful.” – Nanette Carter (03:00)
• “Montclair was very much my time of development, my time of research, my time of trying to figure out again, do I want to go into, you know, architecture?” – Nanette Carter (04:11)
• “I work normally with three to four pieces at a time.” – Nanette Carter (06:08)
• “I love the physicality of it also. But that’s where it started.” – Nanette Carter (09:54)
• “You know, I love the fact that the wall becomes your format.” – Nanette Carter (10:01)

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Timestamp Reference:

• 02:09 – Early childhood inspirations
• 03:00 – Meeting Alvin Loving
• 04:11 – Montclair’s influence
• 06:08 – Artistic process with multiple pieces
• 09:54 – Love for collage
• 10:01 – Large-scale artwork preferences

Transcript

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Today's show, we're talking about some of the great art exhibitions in our area. Right now we want to shout out our centennial project. We're calling 100 Pieces of Art. Head to wnyc.org art100 to learn more and check out some expert suggestions for the most interesting pieces you can see at various institutions in our listening area. One more time, that's WNYCART100. And given that we're calling this the Summer of Art, we wanted to give you a heads up. Our next full bio conversation will be about the life of French post impressionist Gauguin. We will be speaking to Sue Prideau, author of Wild Thing, the Life of Paul Gauguin. That's coming up at the end of this month. On a wall at the Montclair Art Museum, there's a quote from Nanette Carter that reads, life is a collage of experiences. We are all works of art. That quote opens the show that spans her life as an artist. Nanette Carter, A Question of balance there are 46 works in the show dating back to a piece from 1971, a small black wax pencil on paper, eggs and basket, to a 2024 site specific piece called Afrocentennials. That's 8 x 33ft Sentinels. Afro Sentinels.

[Nanette Carter]

Afro Sentinels, that's right.

[Unknown]

Thank you very much.

[Alison Stewart]

There is a nod to her heritage in Montclair. In the exhibition you'll see a magazine from 2012 that has a cover featuring her dad, Matthew G. Carter, the first black mayor of Montclair and a civil rights leader. Nanette was raised in Montclair, went to Oberlin, got her MFA from Pratt, and this show is a bit of a homecoming. Nanette Carter, A question of balance will Art Museum through July 6th Nanette, welcome to the show.

[Nanette Carter]

Thank you. Thank you. Good being here.

[Alison Stewart]

When you were young, when did you know you were interested in art?

[Nanette Carter]

Very early on my mother was a dancer and she taught dancing. And to watch her choreograph and create these moving bodies was just incredible. But she also sewed the costumes and I saw her creating and I think that I thought everyone's mother did that. You know, I'm three or four years old and I was fascinated by all the beautiful fabrics and stuff. So I think it was then I think I knew I wanted to be some kind of creative person and it took a little time. I went through possibly being an architect or being an interior designer, but I love making art. I love Being in the studio outside of your.

[Alison Stewart]

From your mom, who was someone you looked up to as an artist when you started to understand what art was about?

[Nanette Carter]

Yeah, probably in my 20s, I met an artist by the name of Alvin Loving. He was originally from Detroit. He was in New York City. He was the first African American artist to exhibit at the Whitney, 1969. Fabulous person, just generous, wonderful. And he helped me in so many ways, but I just loved his work also. I loved his work and very inventive. And he was able to kind of open doors for me, which was incredible. Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Thinking back on it, if we can play hometown, what did growing up and how did growing up in Montclair help you become an artist?

[Nanette Carter]

Montclair is filled with artists. We have actors. We have a lot of people who work in New York City who live in Montclair. The Montclair Art Museum certainly was a part of my upbringing.

[Unknown]

I did take a class there at.

[Nanette Carter]

A very young age. I loved going to the art classes. Let me just say that Montclair had the best public schools. And I know the taxes are high, but back when I was coming up in the late 60s, early 70s, I was taking art five days a week along with all of my other classes. I had art projects. We had critiques where the professor actually critiqued our work and we talked about our work. This is something normally you don't do until college or universities. And so we had a press. We were doing etchings. We were doing multicolor silkscreen. We were painting with oils. We had a dark room with an enlarger. We were doing black and white photography. We had a kiln, so we were doing ceramics. We had two wheels. Just incredible. Almost as fine as a small art college. You know, small college that actually has art in it. And so the classes were filled with students who were so serious. We were all very serious. And quite a few of the folks were still out here making art. Myself, Meredith Gaines comes to mind, wonderful sculptor. And so Montclair was very much my time of development, my time of research, my time of trying to figure out again, do I want to go into, you know, architecture? We learned one and two point perspective in the freshman year. I loved that idea of being able to show this sense of depth and space in a room or a house, you know? And then, like I said, I thought about being an interior designer. All of these possibilities came to light while I was there.

[Unknown]

What's going through your mind when you're creating a collage, when you're looking at all these pieces but, you know, they go together, or maybe that doesn't. And something else goes here. What's going through your mind?

[Nanette Carter]

I'll tell you. I work normally with three to four pieces at a time. And so while I might be working on one piece, the other piece across the way that's not quite finished might actually inform what I should do with this piece I'm working with. You know, if you're working full time in your studio and you come to a point in the piece where you really need to get away from it, you don't want to stop working, so you have other pieces to work on simultaneously. You know, it's taken me time. I can say that early on, I think I put too much in a work. I now kind of. Well, you're always listening to yourself. There's an inner kind of dialogue that's going on all the time between your brain and your heart and, I guess, and your hands also. And so all of that is going on. But as I've gotten older, it's all kind of gelling a little bit easier now. That's not to say there aren't times I do have troubles trying to end a piece to finish a piece. But I think I have a better sense of how to move things around. And the beauty of it is that I can move things around.

[Alison Stewart]

When did you learn to experiment?

[Nanette Carter]

Early on, and that was graduate school, because that was when I was experimenting with abstraction. And one night, I'll never forget, I was in Brooklyn at Pratt, and it had rained. It was a winter night. It had rained. And I remember the lights, the street lights, were behind these trees that had no leaves on them. There was just the limbs. And so I saw the silhouette of these trees and these limbs, and it was just beautiful. And the angles that they took on and what have you. And so I did a piece that basically was mimicking that. And it was sort of from that and being, you know, this person who wants to also try other things. Of course, I'm looking at other artists. You know, I think at that time, I'm probably looking at de Kooning. I'm looking at, you know, some of the Abex people. And so all of that kind of.

[Unknown]

Gelled and came together.

[Nanette Carter]

And this was actually doing etchings because I majored in printmaking at Pratt. These were etchings. Oh, that's interesting. What happened, though, is back then, you had to do an edition of 15. You had to do an edition of the same print 15 times. By my second year at Pratt, I got tired of That I wanted to change it up each time. I didn't want to see the same. But no, a part of the lesson was that you. And they would come with magnifying glasses to make sure that each print looked exactly the same as the other in that edition. A little too tight. So what did I do for my thesis show? I began to collage.

[Unknown]

I began to tear them up and basically just sort of deconstruct and then reconstruct something new.

[Nanette Carter]

And I loved it. You know, I loved the edge, working with paper, the decal edge, as opposed to a clean cut edge. The edge gave it this sense of a relief that it was something that was literally physically placed over top of something else. I love the physicality of it also. But that's where it started. Yeah.

[Unknown]

First of all, what do you like about working with such large scale work?

[Nanette Carter]

You know, I love the fact that the wall becomes your format. In other words, it becomes your canvas or your piece of paper. And to have a piece of paper.

[Unknown]

That size, 30 some feet, you know, by 20ft high, I just love it.

[Nanette Carter]

It's exciting.

[Unknown]

And I have to tell you, I've been very lucky. Pratt Institute, during its off times in.

[Nanette Carter]

The summer, will allow me to come and use their gallery walls for my large pieces.

[Unknown]

Oh, that's cool.

In fact, you're telling me they are so good to me there. So when the students aren't there, I go to DeKalpaul Gallery, which is an amazing space. And I will actually then put everything together and really organize the pieces there. I make them in my studio, but I would take them there and really begin to move them about and see.

[Nanette Carter]

How they should be positioned.

[Alison Stewart]

That was my conversation with artist Nanette Carter. Her show, titled A Question of Balance, is showing at the Montclair art Museum through July 6th. Up next, Jesse Crime. The formerly incarcerated artist made his name by secretly making art while in prison. Now his work is hanging in the Met, and he's just opened a new center for art and advocacy in Bed Stuy. He'll talk about it next. This is Olivet.

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