Carrie Mae Weems

Essays and interviews explore the work of Carrie Mae Weems and its place in the history of photography, African American art, and contemporary art.In this October Files volume, essays and interviews explore the work of the influential American artist Carrie Mae Weems—her invention and originality, the formal dimensions of her practice, and her importance to the history of photography and contemporary art. Since the 1980s, Weems (b. 1953) has challenged the status of the black female body within the complex social fabric of American society. Her photographic work, film, and performance investigate spaces that range from the American kitchen table to the nineteenth-century world of historically black Hampton University to the ancient landscapes of Rome.
These texts consider the underpinnings of photographic history in Weems's work, focusing on such early works as The Kitchen Table series; Weems's engagement with photographic archives, historical spaces, and the conceptual legacy of art history; and the relationship between her work and its institutional venues. The book makes clear not only the importance of Weems's work but also the necessity for an expanded set of concerns in contemporary art—one in which race does not restrict a discussion of aesthetics, as it has in the past, robbing black artists of a full consideration of their work.
Contributors
Dawoud Bey, Jennifer Blessing, Kimberly Juanita Brown, Huey Copeland, Erina Duganne, Kimberly Drew, Coco Fusco, Thelma Golden, Katori Hall, Robin Kelsey, Thomas J. Lax, Sarah Lewis, Jeremy McCarter, Yxta Maya Murray, José Rivera, Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Salamishah Tillet, Deborah Willis

List of contents

Series Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
List of Contributors xiii
From Here We Saw What Happened: Carrie Mae Weems and the Practice of Art History (2021) 1
Specters of History (2014) 7
Diasporic Landscapes of Longing (1994) 15
Carrie Mae Weems (1996) 25
Compassion (2009) 31
Carrie Mae Weems and the Field (2021) 37
Photographing between the Lines: Beauty, Politics, and the Poetic Vision of Carrie Mae Weems (2012) 57
Foreword to Carrie Mae Weems: Kitchen Table Series (2016) 73
Around the Kitchen Table (2016) 77
Carrie Mae Weems's Convenings (2021) 87
Carrie Mae Weems: The Legendary Photographer on Becoming and Exploring Personhood through Art (2016) 93
Family Folktales: Carrie Mae Weems, Allan Sekula, and the Critique of Documentary Photography (2011) 99
From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried: Carrie Mae Weems's Challenge to the Harvard Archive (2012) 115
Carrie Mae Weems (2009) 140
Photographic Incantations of the Visual (2015) 153
The Wandering Gaze of Carrie Mae Weems's The Louisiana Project (2018) 173
Public Forum: "Pictures and Progress" (2018) 185
Index 193

About the author

Sarah Lewis is Associate Professor of Art and Architecture and African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She is the author of of a forthcoming book on photography, race, and vision within the Black Atlantic and the Black Sea.

Christine Garnier is a PhD candidate in History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University.

Summary

Essays and interviews explore the work of Carrie Mae Weems and its place in the history of photography, African American art, and contemporary art.In this October Files volume, essays and interviews explore the work of the influential American artist Carrie Mae Weems—her invention and originality, the formal dimensions of her practice, and her importance to the history of photography and contemporary art. Since the 1980s, Weems (b. 1953) has challenged the status of the black female body within the complex social fabric of American society. Her photographic work, film, and performance investigate spaces that range from the American kitchen table to the nineteenth-century world of historically black Hampton University to the ancient landscapes of Rome.
These texts consider the underpinnings of photographic history in Weems's work, focusing on such early works as The Kitchen Table series; Weems's engagement with photographic archives, historical spaces, and the conceptual legacy of art history; and the relationship between her work and its institutional venues. The book makes clear not only the importance of Weems's work but also the necessity for an expanded set of concerns in contemporary art—one in which race does not restrict a discussion of aesthetics, as it has in the past, robbing black artists of a full consideration of their work.
Contributors
Dawoud Bey, Jennifer Blessing, Kimberly Juanita Brown, Huey Copeland, Erina Duganne, Kimberly Drew, Coco Fusco, Thelma Golden, Katori Hall, Robin Kelsey, Thomas J. Lax, Sarah Lewis, Jeremy McCarter, Yxta Maya Murray, José Rivera, Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Salamishah Tillet, Deborah Willis

Additional text

Winner of a Photography Network Book Prize

"Thoughtful, thorough, and timely, this scholarly yet accessible survey reveals Weems as a foundational, influential, and prescient figure." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"With language accessible for scholars and art novices alike, these texts praise not only Weems’s work, but also the importance of having a conversation about contemporary art 'in which race does not restrict a discussion of aesthetics, as it has in the past.'"
—Town & Country

"A thoughtful and rigorous look at [Weems's] work, the questions it raises, and the boundaries it pushes and defies."
—The Boston Globe

"[Carrie Mae Weems] is acutely aware of the machinations of visual culture, how it can see certain narratives while deliberately unseeing others. Carrie Mae Weems holds this tension, touching upon the stunning scope of her vision while also acknowledging that art criticism has only just cracked the surface of her visual mysteries and provocations."
—Hyperallergic

"This is a well-researched, intriguing monograph about Weems that will be helpful to anyone researching her art and interesting to any reader who wants to think about the function and construction of beauty within society."
—Library Journal

Product details

• Authors: Christine Garnier, Sarah Lewis
• Assisted by: Sarah Lewis (Editor)
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.05.2021
• EAN: 9780262538596
• ISBN: 978-0-262-53859-6
• No. of pages: 224
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 12 mm
• Series: October Files
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; Social sciences, law, business; Photography & photographs, PHOTOGRAPHY / General, Photography and photographs