Image: Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Los Angeles
The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art will open 'One Thing After Another: Karen Carson Retrospective' on August 25, 2026, presenting a survey of the Los Angeles-based artist’s five decades of work. The exhibition is scheduled to run through December 12, 2026, at the museum in Logan, Utah. Museum materials describe the show as focusing on Carson’s long engagement with abstraction, minimalism, color, and playful form, while also noting her sustained interest in material exploration and popular culture.
According to NEHMA, Carson began her career during a period when Abstraction and Minimalism dominated the art world and women artists often struggled for recognition. The retrospective will track the evolution of her practice from early zipper paintings, which made the painted surface feel tactile and interactive, to graphic banners, sculptural abstract paintings, lightboxes, and narrative works. The museum’s description emphasizes that Carson has repeatedly shifted between media while keeping a steady focus on composition, color relationships, and the experiential possibilities of painting.
The retrospective is also framed by the museum as a recognition of an artist whose work has remained, in the curator’s words, on the fringes of mainstream contemporary art. In the exhibition text, curator Katie Lee-Koven writes that it is an honor to share Carson’s work and describes her practice as balancing intellectual and technical rigor with playfulness. That framing positions the exhibition as both a chronological overview and a case for Carson’s place within conversations about postwar abstraction and the continuing visibility of women artists.
NEHMA’s announcement highlights the range of Carson’s output, including works that move from abstract constructions to advertising sign-inspired graphics, landscape paintings, and images of farm machinery. The museum says her art is often humorous and inviting, yet grounded in a sophisticated understanding of structure and color. One work singled out in the exhibition materials is 'Thank You' (1994), a silkscreen courtesy of the artist that appears in the listing for the show.
The retrospective is one of several upcoming exhibitions listed by the museum in its August newsletter. That newsletter, sent from NEHMA, also noted campus access changes during USU construction and public programs scheduled for the month, but the Karen Carson exhibition was presented as a distinct upcoming show. The museum’s exhibition page dates 'One Thing After Another: Karen Carson Retrospective' from August 25 to December 12, 2026.
NEHMA, part of Utah State University, is located at 650 North 1100 East in Logan. The museum lists its summer hours as Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
