Things said about the Artist
“Her work speaks to human experience and of the multiple aspects of individual identity, arriving at a deeper understanding of humanity.”
Mary Jane Jacobs, “Ritual and Revolution”
“. . . one of the most honored American artists of her generation. Weems asks inconvenient questions and comes up with unwelcome answers. For that alone, no contemporary artist’s work is more important.”
- David Bonetti, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Weems’s focus on masking and facades underscores the notion that social hierarchies result from a differential in relations of power, not birthright.”
Susan Cahan, “Carrie Mae Weems: Reflecting Louisiana”
“Weems has long been one of our most effective visual and verbal rhetoricians. When she tackles complex subjects in complex ways, the results are… deeply stirring.”
Holland Cotter, The New York Times
“. . . one of the most honored American artists of her generation. Weems asks inconvenient questions and comes up with unwelcome answers. For that alone, no contemporary artist’s work is more important.”
- David Bonetti, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“ . . . it is Weems’s conviction that radicalism and beauty are complementary, not antithetical, that gives her work its distinctive edge.”
Ernest Larson, Art in America
“Dazed and confused by the possibilities of life, Catwoman turns to a friend and says: “What am I going to do with my life?” and the friend replies, “Well you could always be an artist like Carrie Mae Weems.”
Halle Berry as Catwoman
“But those who have followed Weems over the 40 years of her practice…say the artist has always been ahead of her time.”
Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times
“As much an activist as a creative, Weems has a long and celebrated history of engaging social issues with her art.”
Marley Marius, Vogue
“Many artists have named her as an inspiration; from Mickalene Thomas to LaToya Ruby Frazier few Black image makers, emerging or established, do not feel the gravitational pull of her legacy.”
Jasmine Weber, Hyperallergic
“Weems is much more than a photographer. Think of her more as an artist who uses photography, and who also uses other media to accentuate her photos to tell stories. She integrates and transcends photography.”
Tim Higgins, The Morning Call
“. . . Weems positions herself as history’s ghost….”
Nancy Princethal, Art In America
“In the art world, too, Weems has always been before her time, and this has made her a singularly eloquent witness to the shifting landscape of race and representation.”
Megan O’Grady, The New York Times Style Magazine
“She’s a 21st century oracle.”
Sarah Elizabeth Lewis
“From the very beginning, Carrie Mae Weems has had a sharp intelligence that was looking for a way in the world.”
Dawoud Bey
“Carrie Mae Weems represents what art is about - exposing people to diverse situations and experiences and allowing them to form their own opinions.”
David Mickenberg
“She’s iconic through and through!”
Shelton Boyd-Griffin, Grazia
“…Weems rejects the two dimensionality of the photographic form, instead constructing emotionally charged landscapes where we can consider the shifting expressions of power, beauty, history, love, and invention.”
Allison Conner, Hyperallergic