A S M I: Artist Spotlight: Carrie Mae Weems

As a Fine Arts student, every week I must study and analyze many artists; I find the work of these artists so inspirational and compelling that it is high time I share their work with my readers; therefore I shall have reoccurring posts entitled "Artist Spotlight".

My first spotlight is on award-winning photographer and artist, Carrie Mae Weems. Her photographs, films and videos focus on serious issues such as gender roles, the history of racism, sexism, class and various political systems. Weems has also over time, built a body of work that explores the significations of images and words.

One of her pieces that touched me was a part of a series she did in 1995 entitled " From there I Saw What Happened and I Cried". In this series she overlays text on vintage anthropological photographs of black people to express outrage at their historical objectification.

Carrie Mae Weems, From Here I Saw What Happened, 1995–1996, and And I Cried, 1995–1996. C-prints with sandblasted glass text on glass. Images courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, NY.

(to see all images from this series visit www.carriemaeweems.net)

I also found her series "The Louisiana Project" done in 2003, as a true work of art. This series hints the hidden histories of Louisiana and shows relations between black and white, rich and poor and the elites and masses. Images from The Louisiana Project include: