Carrie Mae Weems: Ritual and Revolution

A practicing artist since 1978, Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953) often creates works that blur the lines between fiction and documentary to explore universal human experiences through the black subject. Over the years Weems’ photographic practice has expanded to include video, performance, and multi-media installations. Ritual and Revolution (1998) is an immersive, gallery-sized installation that marks one of the artist’s earliest forays into three dimensions. Composed of 18 diaphanous printed cloth banners organized in a semi-architectural formation and a poetic audio track, Ritual and Revolution explores the historic human struggle for equality and justice, including references to the Middle Passage, the French Revolution and World War II.

Image: Carrie Mae Weems, Ritual and Revolution, 1998, installation view at P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery.