(Photo: Patrick McMullan)

Jimmy Carter’s artist step-granddaughter Sarah Chuldenko once illustrated a book of his poems. Her first solo show opened April 24 at Fake Estate in Chelsea. They’re politically inspired paintings that include abstracted images of lushly nippled breasts rising from the muck of oil spills and roadside-bomb sites. “Life comes out of destruction,” she explains. She defends her grandpa’s recent meeting with Hamas. “He’s made it his life’s work to create peace in the Middle East,” she says. Carter’s also taken up painting and turns to Chuldenko for advice. “He’ll call with questions about mediums to use,” she says. “He’s definitely a beginner, but he’s improving, and they’re great. We joke because he sold his last painting for $150,000. He’s like, ‘How much do you sell yours for?’ And I’m like, ‘Nothing.’ ”

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Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Tim Murphy
• Table of Contents: May 5, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!