Beyond Boundaries: Black Abstraction in the Elliot and Kimberly Perry Art Collection
Featuring ActionSpace artist and 2025 Turner Prize winner, Nnena Kalu, in a major exhibition curated by Dr Anita N. Bateman.
When: 8 May – 30 August 2026
Where: Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture at Levine Center for the Arts, 551 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202, USA
Beyond Boundaries foregrounds the centrality of Black abstraction within the Elliot and Kimberly Perry Art Collection. Over nearly three decades, the Perrys’ collecting vision has evolved from an early emphasis on figuration to a sustained engagement with contemporary abstraction—reflecting a deeper recognition of abstraction as a critical language through which Black artists have articulated presence beyond representation.
The exhibition features Nnena’s vibrant and immersive practice, recognised for its expressive mark-making, rhythmic layering, and deeply intuitive approach to colour and form.
Beyond Boundaries contributes to wider rethinking of art history, foregrounding the vital role Black artists have played in shaping abstraction and non-representational art.
Image: Nnena Kalu, Drawing 13, 2021, Acrylic, chalk, pen and oil pastel on paper.
