Carrie Mae Weems facts for kids

Carrie Mae Weems (born April 20, 1953) is an American artist. She works with many art forms, including photography, video, and art installations. She is most famous for her photography. Weems became well-known for her photo series called The Kitchen Table Series in the early 1990s. Her photos and videos often explore important topics. These include fairness, identity, and the experiences of African Americans, especially black women.

She once shared that her main goal in art is to show the important place of African Americans in the country. More recently, she has said that her art is about the full human experience. It is also about making sure everyone feels included. She continues to create art that talks about the lives of people of color, especially black women, in America.

Her talents have been recognized by top universities like Harvard University. She has held special positions there, including visiting professor. Weems also helped choose art for a major exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She is currently an artist in residence at Syracuse University.

About Carrie Mae Weems

Early Life and Education

Carrie Mae Weems was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1953. She was the second of seven children. When she was 16, she had a daughter named Faith.

In 1970, she moved to San Francisco. There, she studied modern dance with Anna Halprin. Weems recalled that Anna Halprin was interested in using dance to bring different cultures together. Weems later decided to focus on art school. She earned her first degree from the California Institute of the Arts. She then received her master's degree from the University of California, San Diego.

In her early twenties, Weems was active in the labor movement. She worked as a union organizer. She first used a camera, given to her as a birthday gift, for this work. She became interested in photography after seeing a book called The Black Photographers Annual. This book featured photos by African-American artists. This led her to New York City. There, she met other photographers and artists. In 1976, she took a photography class and worked as an assistant.

Art from 1980 to 2000

First panel from Untitled (1996, printed 2020), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

In 1983, Weems finished her first major project. It was called Family Pictures and Stories. This collection included photos, text, and spoken words. The images told the story of her family. She wanted to show how black families moved from the South to the North. Her family's story was an example of this larger journey.

Her next series, Ain't Jokin (1988), looked at racial jokes. Another series, American Icons (1989), also focused on unfair treatment based on race. Weems began to move away from traditional documentary photography. Instead, she created images that looked real but were actually set up. She also started using text and multiple images in her work.

Fairness for women became a key topic for her. This was the focus of her famous The Kitchen Table series (1989–1990). In these photos, Weems herself is the main character. She used her own image to question ideas about family, relationships, and the roles of men and women. Weems wanted to show the experiences of black women, who were often missing from popular media. Her work helped open doors for other black female artists.

Weems has explained that her art explores ideas of power and its effects. She also looks at how stories are told, the role of humor, and how history is created. Memory and performance are also important parts of her thinking.

Art from 2000 to Today

The Armstrong Triptych (from The Hampton Project) (2000) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC in 2022.

Carrie Mae Weems continues to be very active in the art world. She has created many photographic projects since 2000. These include Louisiana Project (2003) and Roaming (2006). She also created Museums (2006) and Constructing History (2008). Other works include African Jewels (2009), Mandingo (2010), and Slow Fade to Black (2010). More recent projects are Equivalents (2012) and Blue Notes (2014–2015).

Her project Grace Notes: Reflections for Now is a multimedia performance. It explores the idea of grace in working towards a fair society. Her work Slow Fade to Black (2010) looks at how African-American female entertainers from the 20th century are remembered. The blurred images of artists like Marian Anderson and Billie Holiday show how their images might fade from our memory. This series highlights the ongoing struggle for African-American entertainers to stay visible. In 2023, Weems became the first black woman to win the prestigious Hasselblad Award.

Special Art Projects

For the 2020/2021 season, Weems designed a huge picture for the Vienna State Opera. It was called Queen B (Mary J. Blige). In 2024, a fashion brand called Bottega Veneta asked Weems to create an ad campaign. It featured the rapper A$AP Rocky and his sons.

Art Exhibitions

The first big show of Carrie Mae Weems's work opened in September 2012. It was at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tennessee. The exhibition was called Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video. It later traveled to other museums. In January 2014, a 30-year show of her work opened at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. This was a very important moment. It was the first time an African-American woman had a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim.

In 2021, Weems presented her exhibit The Shape of Things at the Park Avenue Armory. Her first solo exhibition in Germany was in 2022. It was called The Evidence of Things Not Seen. In 2023, the Barbican Centre in London hosted her first major UK exhibition. It was titled Reflections for Now. This show featured her photography and video art from over three decades.

Important Works in Public Collections

Awards and Honors

Carrie Mae Weems has received many important awards for her art:

• 2006: Rome Prize Fellowship
• 2007: Anonymous Was A Woman Award
• 2013: Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2013: MacArthur Fellow, often called a "Genius" Award
• 2014: BET Visual Arts Award
• 2014: Lucie Award
• 2015: ICP Spotlights Award from the International Center of Photography
• 2015: Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow
• 2015: W. E. B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University
• 2015: Honorary Doctorate from the School of Visual Arts
• 2016: International Artist Award, Anderson Ranch Arts Center
• 2017: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University
• 2017: Inga Maren Otto Fellowship, The Watermill Center
• 2019: Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society, Bristol
• 2020: Induction into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum
• 2022: National Medal of Arts for visual artist
• 2023: Hasselblad Award

Personal Life

Carrie Mae Weems lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and Syracuse, New York. She lives with her husband, Jeffrey Hoone.

See also

In Spanish: Carrie Mae Weems para niños