Talk by Carrie Mae Weems: Painting the Town

Conversation

In connection with her series Painting the Town, on view in the Photo Gallery until 9 June, Weems will interweave personal stories with societal themes such as power dynamics, inequality, and discrimination.

She will also engage in a conversation with curators Hinde Haest and Marian Cousijn about art as a tool for emancipation, photography as a witness to history, and maintaining hope in times of turmoil.

Carrie Mae Weems

Born in 1953, Carrie Mae Weems explores what it means to witness and be part of history. Her work focuses on themes of racism, sexism, and discrimination and has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and Tate Modern in London.

Painting the Town

At first glance, Weems’ images appear to be painterly abstract compositions. She photographed them in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. With her 2021 series Painting the Town, Weems comments on the fragile nature of freedom of expression. This marks Carrie Mae Weems’ first exhibition in the Netherlands.