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Lot Essay
This work has been requested for the forthcoming exhibition Carrie Mae Weems Retrospective at the Nashville, Frist Center of Visual Arts; Portland Art Museum; Cleveland Museum of Art and New York, Guggenheim Museum, September 2012-January 2014.
"I want to make things that are beautiful, seductive, formally challenging and culturally meaningful. I'm also committed to radical social change. any form of human injustice moves me deeply the battle against all forms of oppression keeps me going and keeps me focused" (C. M. Weems as quoted in, Thomas Piche, Carrie Mae Weems: Recent Work 1992-1998, George Braziller, Syracuse, New York, 1998, p. 10).
From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried is Carrie Mae Weems' powerful photo-textual critique of the history of black visual representation. Created from 1994 to 1995, the thirty-four prints eloquently speak to the overarching themes of Weems' oeuvre: identity, race, gender, class, the legacy of slavery, and the African diaspora. Pulled from the J. Paul Getty museum archives, the images call out to their audience, asking for their participation in the creation of a shared experience of reception, recognition, and change.
The installation is composed of a series of re-photographed nineteenth century pictures of black men and women, enlarged and re-toned in red. Each photograph is framed under a sheet of glass inscribed with the artist's text, making manifest the layers of indignity and prejudice imposed upon this historic group of individuals. Originally commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum, From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried was created in response to the museum's exhibition of rare photographs of African Americans from the 1840s to the 1960s entitled "Hidden Witness: African Americans in Early Photographs." Weems' subsequent installation was a bold dissection of the museum's collection, simultaneously embracing and rejecting that which the original photographs represented. With her reading of the Getty exhibit, Weems responded with wit and irony, speaking her mind through the superimposed text that gave voice to the underlying imagery.
Considered at the time to be Weems' most significant work and presented by many critics as one of the most important artworks of the 1990s, From Here. . . was not simply a response but instead a corrective gesture that provided a new basis for conversation regarding black visual representation in America. The piece, though extended as a sort of timeline across its wall, is circular in nature. It starts with a photograph of an African woman who from her place in history watched the progression of her race through the inequalities, rejections, injustices, and violations of the nineteenth century. The piece progresses linearly, giving forth portrayals of African Americans as they were seen by others-as these others imagined them to be-and as they sometimes saw themselves. The text emanates from the images with a poetry of syntax that unites the short statements and fragments, relaying Weems' stories of the individuals, who they were, and what they became. The work ends with the reversed profile of the same African woman, returning the narrative to its beginnings as she weeps in response to the lives of those portrayed.
Primarily known as a photographer, but also recognized for her work with written texts, banners, sound, and sculpture, Weems has been creating art since the early 1970s. Asserting the power of the camera, for Weems, "photography can still be used to champion activism [and] and as a powerful weapon toward instituting political and cultural change" (C.M. Weems quoted in Thomas Piche, Carrie Mae Weems: Recent Work, 1992 - 1998, Persea Books, 1999, p. 10). With societal transformation in mind, Weems here plays with the notion of documentary photography, refiguring original formatting to express her subjects' value, both iconic and symbolic. From Here. . . was extraordinarily well-received at its inception, acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (the second series of two) for their permanent collection in 1997. Weems' verbal and visual elegance permeates the installation as she conveys her messages with honestly, clarity, and truth.
"I want to make things that are beautiful, seductive, formally challenging and culturally meaningful. I'm also committed to radical social change. any form of human injustice moves me deeply the battle against all forms of oppression keeps me going and keeps me focused" (C. M. Weems as quoted in, Thomas Piche, Carrie Mae Weems: Recent Work 1992-1998, George Braziller, Syracuse, New York, 1998, p. 10).
From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried is Carrie Mae Weems' powerful photo-textual critique of the history of black visual representation. Created from 1994 to 1995, the thirty-four prints eloquently speak to the overarching themes of Weems' oeuvre: identity, race, gender, class, the legacy of slavery, and the African diaspora. Pulled from the J. Paul Getty museum archives, the images call out to their audience, asking for their participation in the creation of a shared experience of reception, recognition, and change.
The installation is composed of a series of re-photographed nineteenth century pictures of black men and women, enlarged and re-toned in red. Each photograph is framed under a sheet of glass inscribed with the artist's text, making manifest the layers of indignity and prejudice imposed upon this historic group of individuals. Originally commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum, From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried was created in response to the museum's exhibition of rare photographs of African Americans from the 1840s to the 1960s entitled "Hidden Witness: African Americans in Early Photographs." Weems' subsequent installation was a bold dissection of the museum's collection, simultaneously embracing and rejecting that which the original photographs represented. With her reading of the Getty exhibit, Weems responded with wit and irony, speaking her mind through the superimposed text that gave voice to the underlying imagery.
Considered at the time to be Weems' most significant work and presented by many critics as one of the most important artworks of the 1990s, From Here. . . was not simply a response but instead a corrective gesture that provided a new basis for conversation regarding black visual representation in America. The piece, though extended as a sort of timeline across its wall, is circular in nature. It starts with a photograph of an African woman who from her place in history watched the progression of her race through the inequalities, rejections, injustices, and violations of the nineteenth century. The piece progresses linearly, giving forth portrayals of African Americans as they were seen by others-as these others imagined them to be-and as they sometimes saw themselves. The text emanates from the images with a poetry of syntax that unites the short statements and fragments, relaying Weems' stories of the individuals, who they were, and what they became. The work ends with the reversed profile of the same African woman, returning the narrative to its beginnings as she weeps in response to the lives of those portrayed.
Primarily known as a photographer, but also recognized for her work with written texts, banners, sound, and sculpture, Weems has been creating art since the early 1970s. Asserting the power of the camera, for Weems, "photography can still be used to champion activism [and] and as a powerful weapon toward instituting political and cultural change" (C.M. Weems quoted in Thomas Piche, Carrie Mae Weems: Recent Work, 1992 - 1998, Persea Books, 1999, p. 10). With societal transformation in mind, Weems here plays with the notion of documentary photography, refiguring original formatting to express her subjects' value, both iconic and symbolic. From Here. . . was extraordinarily well-received at its inception, acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (the second series of two) for their permanent collection in 1997. Weems' verbal and visual elegance permeates the installation as she conveys her messages with honestly, clarity, and truth.