Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now @ The Barbican
Carrie Mae Weems, an artist known for her unyielding examination of systemic discrimination and racism against Black people in the United States, presents her most poignant explorations in the exhibition Reflections for Now at the Barbican. Navigating the exhibition, which features works spanning three decades, it is enthralling to see how she softens her approach in artistic form while intensifying the message she conveys.
One noticeable shift is her transition from employing overt emotional expression to embracing abstraction as a means of conveying messages in a subtler yet more resonant manner. The exhibition opens with Painting the Town (2021), a group of photographic prints reminiscent of large abstract paintings, which is an unusual visual language for this artist renowned for her portrayal of human subjects. The photo prints are demonstration walls in Portland, Oregon, following George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis in 2020. Weems presented images of protest-covered walls, where demonstrators' slogans were covered by the authorities' efforts to conceal them with black, brown, and grey blocks. Through her unique cropping and lighting techniques, Weems turned these buildings into flat-coloured fields.
Painting the Town #3, 2021. Pigment print, 149.6 ´ 220.7 cm. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York / Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
The emotion is strikingly calm and hidden compared to the artwork next to it: From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried (1995-6). Harvard scientists originally commissioned this group of daguerreotypes to reinforce white superiority by preparing a taxonomy of physical types in the slave population. Tinted with a blood red overlay and collaged with the artist’s words such as “A Negroid Type” or ‘‘You became the joker’s joke”, these images unleash a powerful critique of the oppressive history endured by Black individuals, demanding recognition and justice.
You Became a Scientific Profile, A Negroid Type, and An Anthropological Debate from From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried, 1995-1996. Chromogenic color prints framed with etched glass, 67.9 ´ 55.8 cm. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York / Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
The fall of explicit rage is also reflected in the shifting dynamics between text and image in Weems’ work, where the direction of text has given way to the ambiguity of the image. In And 22 Million Very Tired and Very Angry People (1991), the artist showcased everyday objects such as magnifying glasses, books and bells. Uniting them together is a sense of stillness and tranquillity. And if this emotion was not hinted at by the title, the anger that the artist wanted to express was barely recognisable.
A Hot Spot in a Corrupt World from And 22 Million Very Tired and Very Angry People, 1989-1990. Polaroid print with text on matting. 61.0 ´ 50.8 cm. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York / Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
However, in her recent piece, The Shape of Things: A Film in Seven Parts (2021), Weems takes a departure as the text gave way to unidentifiable chaotic noises, transmitting no clear meaning except through acoustic signals. Situated within a semi-panoramic film installation reminiscent of 19th-century cycloramas, Weems transforms the political landscape of the US into a circus, exposing a nation grappling with racism, protests, police violence, and immigration crises. Composed of archival footage and excerpts from her works, the video collage was accompanied by Weems' weighty yet elusive commentary phrases, leaving room for interpretation. While her eloquence shines through, the exact intent of her message remained enigmatic, drawing viewers further into her poetic, sombre, and weighted world. It's a pity that the installation is confined to a semi-circle due to space limitations, somewhat reducing the visual impact of its inherent absurdity.
Still from Cyclorama – The Shape of Things: A Video in Seven Parts, 2021. Installation, video, sound, 39:06 min. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York / Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
Throughout her oeuvre and the course of the exhibition, history and political discourse serve as the core themes, and this is often brought to life through performance. Imbued with ambiguity and ambivalent qualities, this artistic form allows her to meld gentle power with a hardened core to the utmost. In Constructing History (2008), Weems collaborated with students to reenact important political photographs from 20th-century history, such as Martin Luther King's wake and the assassination of JFK. These tableaux created a peculiar experience for their viewers, inviting one to question the artificiality and selectiveness of history while interrogating prevailing societal images. Through the act of performance, Weems and other performers lived in the moment, capitalising on the experience. Simultaneously, the performances distanced and detached us from the actual events in the past, offering a tempered message by creating a sense of removal.
Mourning from Constructing History, 2008. Archival pigment prints, 54.0 × 43.8 cm. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York / Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
Her expressions in other photographic works also became gentler, where she changed from confronting the viewers directly to turning her back on us. The exhibition includes her renowned Kitchen Table Series (1990), where domestic dramas unfold to position the home as a space for resistance for women. In one photograph, Weems gazed firmly and defiantly at the viewer, with her palms resting resolutely on a kitchen table as she slightly leaned forward. This rare moment of direct engagement with the audience stands out amidst her three-decade-long career, as subsequent works retreat from direct eye contact.
Untitled (Woman Standing Alone) from Kitchen Table Series, 1990. Gelatin silver print, 71.8 ´ 71.8 cm. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York / Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
As the exhibition draws to a close, we encounter the Museum (2006-present) series, where Weems was dressed in a black robe and her back turned to the camera. Art museums reaffirm exclusion and inequality by gazing at nude, pretty women without giving them a chance to speak for themselves. They are also conduits for narratives entwined with imperialism, highlighting the Western museum's power to construct history. Rather than presenting her stance in clear-cut terms, Weems refused the viewers’ gaze and strict prejudgments, shifting from frontal confrontation to a vague and evasive back view. Concentrated emotion has evolved into dispersed melancholy, lingering subtly in our consciousness.
The Louvre from Museums, 2006. Digital C-print, 186.0 ´ 156.0 cm. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York / Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
In an interview article in 2016 about her exhibition at Jack Shainman Gallery, Weems stated: “There's absolutely nothing in this exhibition that is new. All of these are very old ideas that I've been exploring, thinking about, and struggling with for years."1 Whilst some might criticise her for not presenting anything ‘new’, this only reaffirms how, even after decades of fighting for women and black people to be seen and be equal, not much has changed, warranting the same old fight to continue, which makes exhibitions like this even more timing. The fight against these injustices remains ongoing, yet the means of expression have transformed. Weems no longer delivers sharp, strong, and sarcastic phrases directly to viewers' faces; instead, her current work possesses an elusive quality at first sight but leaves a lasting impact, like gentle punches.
Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now has now closed. For more information on this exhibition and upcoming shows at the Barbican Centre, click on the links.
Bibliography:
1:Antwaun Sargent. "Carrie Mae Weems on a Career of Challenging Power and Black Representation in Art." Artsy. November 1, 2016. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-carrie-mae-weems-on-a-career-of-challenging-power-and-black-representation-in-art.
Runqiu Peng
Interviews Co-Editor, MADE IN BED