carrie mae weems

03/05/14 — african american, b&w, black, carrie mae weems, culture, gallery, guggenheim museum, museum, portrait

“a single’s waltz in time” (2003)

Art is the one place we all turn to for solace. We turn to it constantly, whether you are listening to music, or pop in a film; you want to escape reality, and if you thinking deeply, you want to engage in art in a complex way. Art allows us to navigate the more complicated parts of our lives in a way that is more palpable. We don’t go to the movies just to see a movie; we go for the experience. I’m very interested in the experience. Art has saved my life on a regular basis. I wanted to offer that experience to children, to enlist them, to show them the possibilities that are in the arts, to persuade them to pursue it for both their own personal salvation and for changing the way we are understood.

– mother, artist, macarthur fellow carrie mae weems.  she has an installation at the guggenheim until may 14th.  if you can’t make it to nyc in time, you can check out some of her work in the gallery below.  pics via her website & a recent nytimes feature (click both links to learn more about her story).

“untitled (woman standing before commercial billboard)” (2003)

“coming up for air” (2003-4)

a 2002 self portrait, taken in santiago de cuba

“wilfredo, laura & me (from dreaming in cuba)” (2002)

“the tate modern” (2006), from “museum series” which shows the artist dwarfed by the facades of international art institutions

WHEN ASKED WHAT HE WANTS TO BE WHEN HE GROWS UP, THE BLACK BOY SAYS,”I WANT TO BE A WHITE MAN CAUSE MY MAMA SAY, ‘A NIGGER AIN’T SHIT.'” via “Ain’t Jokin’ 1987-1988”

“untitled (man reading newspaper)”, part of “kitchen table series”

marian anderson via “Slow Fade to Black, 2010” see ms. anderson sing here http://youtu.be/mAONYTMf2pk

WHITE PATTY, WHITE PATTY, YOU DON’T SHINE, MEET YOU AROUND THE CORNER AND BEAT YOUR BEHIND. via “Ain’t Jokin’ 1987-1988”

“a single’s waltz in time” (2003)

via “Family Pictures and Stories, 1981–1982”

“mourning” (2008), an inkjet printer

“untitled (woman and daughter with children),” from 1990, part of “kitchen table series”