Nina Chanel Abney makes hard-edged, vibrant, and often dense artworks with geometric symbols and shapes. Her figural works are influenced by the dynamics of our contemporary media landscape. Abney’s paintings, prints, and large-scale murals are layered compositions and fragmented narratives that explore themes of politics, race, sexuality, and celebrity. Her exhibition on display at the Henry through March 5, 2023 includes recent collages and new paintings that center the rich culture and commerce of fishing within the African American community. Her work celebrates a long legacy of identity and self-determination intimately entangled with coastal fisheries while also conjuring the structural inequities that threaten Black life and livelihoods within the industry. Abney’s exhibition extends outdoors with an exterior mural on the Henry’s east façade that provocatively stages the seafood market, evoking relationships between racialized bodies, commodities, and consumption. The Henry Gallery at UW Seattle is open Thursday-Sunday. Admission is by donation. More info: Nina Chanel Abney: Fishing Was His Life – Henry Art Gallery and Hours & Admission – Henry Art Gallery
